Spatial reuse for WLAN networks

ABSTRACT

Techniques for improved spatial reuse for wireless local area network (WLAN) networks are described. An access point (AP) may win a contention to a wireless medium and obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The AP may perform a procedure to identify a group of un-managed APs for participation in spatial reuse opportunities for synchronous transmission over the TXOP. The AP may perform the procedure using over-the-air signaling. The AP may transmit a spatial reuse (SR) poll frame to one or more un-managed APs of the network, either sequentially or as part of a multiple-AP procedure. The AP may receive an SR response frame, or directly measure potential interference of a station (STA) serviced by one or more un-managed APs, and select a group of APs for coordinated reuse over the TXOP. The AP may select the group of APs based on one or more criteria for coordinated reuse.

CROSS REFERENCE

The present Application for Patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/724,533 by CHERIAN et al.,entitled “IMPROVED SPATIAL REUSE FOR WLAN NETWORKS,” filed Aug. 29,2018, assigned to the assignee hereof, and which is expresslyincorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and morespecifically to features for improved spatial reuse for wireless localarea network (WLAN) networks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY

A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more accesspoints (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for useby a number of client devices also referred to as stations (STAs). Thebasic building block of a WLAN conforming to the 802.11 family ofstandards is a Basic Service Set (BSS), which is managed by an AP. EachBSS is identified by a service set identifier (SSID) that is advertisedby the AP. An AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable anySTAs within wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain acommunication link with the WLAN.

In a typical WLAN, each STA may be associated with only one AP at atime. To identify an AP with which to associate, a STA is configured toperform scans on the wireless channels of each of one or more frequencybands (for example, the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band). As a result ofthe increasing ubiquity of wireless networks, a STA may have theopportunity to select one of many WLANs within range of the STA orselect among multiple APs that together form an extended BSS. Afterassociation with an AP, a STA also may be configured to periodicallyscan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP with which toassociate. For example, a STA that is moving relative to its associatedAP may perform a “roaming” scan to find an AP having more desirablenetwork characteristics such as a greater received signal strengthindicator (RSSI).

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing the available system resources (for example, time, frequency,and space). The AP may be coupled to a network, such as the Internet,and may enable a station to communicate via the network includingcommunicating with other devices coupled to the AP.

Some wireless devices in a WLAN (such as, APs or STAs) may be configuredfor extended high throughput (EHT) operations spanning an extended radiofrequency (RF) channel bandwidth spectrum. The extended channelbandwidth spectrum may include portions of spectrum that includefrequency bands traditionally used by Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11×Wi-Fi technology, such as the 5 GHzband, the 2.4 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, the 900 MHzband, and others. The spectrum may also include other frequency bands(such as the 6 GHz band). The wireless connection between an AP and STAmay be referred to as a channel or link. Each band (for example, the 5GHz band) may contain multiple channels (such as, each spanning 20 MHzin frequency, 40 MHz in frequency, 80 MHz in frequency, and others),each of which may be usable by an AP or STA. Based on the enhancedfunctionality supported by EHT modes of operation at devices of theWLAN, supported flexibility and extension to existing fields, frames andstructuring, signaling, and features associated with operability inutilizing wireless resources may be desired.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,or apparatuses that support coordinated reuse in un-managed wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) networks. Generally, the described techniquesprovide extensions to flexibility and support for access point (AP)coordination, including over-the-air signaling cooperation to coordinateand improve spatial-reuse opportunities for signaling over atransmission opportunity (TXOP). The AP coordination may supportsynchronous transmission by one or more APs that may be participating ina coordinated reuse process while reducing interference and improvingsystem throughput over managed basic service sets (BSSs). An AP may beconfigured for enhanced operability (for example, extended highthroughput (EHT)), and participate in coordinated reuse, includinginterference management and simultaneous uplink (UL) or downlink (DL)transmissions with one or more APs of a configured range.

The systems, methods and devices of this disclosure each have severalinnovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for thedesirable attributes disclosed herein.

A method of wireless communication at a first access point is described.The method may include transmitting, after winning contention for awireless medium, a first poll including a first message to a STA servedby the first access point, receiving, from the STA, a first response tothe first poll based on transmitting the first poll, receiving, from asecond access point of a set of access points, a second responseincluding a measured signal strength indication of the first responsebased on transmitting the first poll, and selecting the second accesspoint for coordinated reuse based on receiving the second response.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to transmit, after winning contention for a wireless medium, afirst poll including a first message to a STA served by the first accesspoint, receive, from the STA, a first response to the first poll basedon transmitting the first poll, receive, from a second access point of aset of access points, a second response including a measured signalstrength indication of the first response based on transmitting thefirst poll, and select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for transmitting, afterwinning contention for a wireless medium, a first poll including a firstmessage to a STA served by the first access point, receiving, from theSTA, a first response to the first poll based on transmitting the firstpoll, receiving, from a second access point of a set of access points, asecond response including a measured signal strength indication of thefirst response based on transmitting the first poll, and selecting thesecond access point for coordinated reuse based on receiving the secondresponse.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a first access point is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to transmit, after winningcontention for a wireless medium, a first poll including a first messageto a STA served by the first access point, receive, from the STA, afirst response to the first poll based on transmitting the first poll,receive, from a second access point of a set of access points, a secondresponse including a measured signal strength indication of the firstresponse based on transmitting the first poll, and select the secondaccess point for coordinated reuse based on receiving the secondresponse.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousDL signaling over a TXOP based on selecting the second access point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, performing synchronous DLsignaling over the TXOP may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for transmitting an indication for the second access pointof the set of access points to perform the synchronous DL signaling.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the indication includes an SRstart frame and an indication of maximum allowed transmission power forperforming DL signaling over the TXOP.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to thesecond access point, a second poll after receiving the first responsefrom the STA, in which receiving the second response may be based ontransmitting the second poll.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining a criterionfor coordinated reuse over a TXOP with the second access point based onone or more of the second poll or the second response, in whichselecting the second access point may be based on determining thecriterion.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining that thesecond access point satisfies the criterion for coordinated reuse, inwhich selecting the second access point may be based on determining thatthe second access point satisfies the criterion.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the criterion for coordinatedreuse includes a maximum allowed transmit power for the set of accesspoints and may be based on a signal-to-interference (SIR) of the firstaccess point to serve the STA at a modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a quantityof the set of access points and determining a calculation for a back-offadjustment to the criterion based on identifying the quantity, in whichdetermining the criterion may be based on the determining thecalculation.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining a firstcriterion for coordinated reuse associated with a first sub-channel ofthe wireless medium based on at least one of a transmit powerrequirement of the first sub-channel or a tolerance level associatedwith the first sub-channel and determining a second criterion forcoordinated reuse associated with a second sub-channel of the wirelessmedium based on at least one of a transmit power requirement of thesecond sub-channel or a tolerance level associated with the secondsub-channel, in which determining the criterion may be based ondetermining the first criterion for the first sub-channel and the secondcriterion for the second sub-channel.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the secondpoll and receiving the second response may be part of a pollingprocedure for the set of access points initiated by the first accesspoint.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the second pollto the second access point further may include operations, features,means, or instructions for transmitting the second poll to one or moreaccess points of the set of access points different than the secondaccess point, the method further including.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining, based ondetermining the criterion, that the one or more access points do notsatisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP, in whichtransmitting the second poll to the second access point may be based ondetermining that the one or more access points do not satisfy thecriterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the second pollto the second access point may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for transmitting the second poll to a set of access pointsof the set of access points.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a thirdaccess point of the set of access points, a response based ontransmitting the second poll and selecting the third access point forcoordinated reuse based on the receiving the response from the thirdaccess point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the second poll includes aspatial reuse (SR) poll frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR poll frame includes atrigger frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR poll frame includesone or more of schedule information for a TXOP or DL reuse information.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the schedule informationincludes DL slot sizes and durations for one or more DL slots of theTXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the DL reuse informationincludes one or more of a maximum allowed interference for the firstaccess point or basic service set (BSS) identifiers (BSSIDs) of the setof access points.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to athird access point of the set of access points, the second poll afterreceiving the first response from the STA, receiving, from the thirdaccess point, a response based on transmitting the second poll to thethird access point and selecting the third access point for coordinatedreuse based on the receiving the response from the third access point.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousDL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point and the thirdaccess point based on selecting the second access point for coordinatedreuse and selecting the third access point for coordinated reuse.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, performing synchronous DLsignaling over the TXOP may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for multiplexing DL signaling of the second access pointand DL signaling of the third access point over the TXOP, and in whichthe multiplexing includes one or more of time division multiplexing(TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) on slots or sub-bands ofthe TXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the second response includesan SR response frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR response frame of thesecond response includes one or more of a received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) measurement of the first response by the STA served bythe first access point, a minimum DL transmit power to service one ormore additional STAs by the second access point, buffer status report(BSR) information, or bandwidth query report (BQR) information.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR response frame of thesecond response may be included in a high efficiency (HE) trigger-based(TB) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU).

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the first pollfurther may include operations, features, means, or instructions fortransmitting a second message to the set of access points and receiving,from the set of access points, a response to the first poll, in whichthe response may be received after receiving the first response to thefirst poll by the STA.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from one ormore access points of the set of access points, a response to the firstpoll, in which the response may be based on an indication within thefirst response to provide reuse-feedback by one or more of the set ofaccess points.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the indication may be atleast part of a preamble of the first response.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing arequest-to-send (RTS) clear-to-send (CTS) procedure with the STA servedby the first access point, in which the first poll may be a multi-userRTS (MU-RTS) frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the MU-RTS frame of the firstpoll includes one or more of information for the STA served by the firstaccess point or information on one or more BSSIDs of the set of accesspoints.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first response includesan enhanced CTS (e-CTS) frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the e-CTS frame of the firstpoll includes a HE preamble and one or more HE-SIG fields.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the HE-SIG fields of thee-CTS frame include an indication for identifying one or more accesspoints of the set of access points for providing an RSSI measurement ofthe e-CTS frame of the first poll.

A method of wireless communication at a first access point is described.The method may include transmitting, after winning contention to awireless medium, a first poll to a second access point of a set ofaccess points, measuring a signal strength indication sent by one ormore STAs served by the second access point based on transmitting thefirst poll, and selecting the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to transmit, after winning contention to a wireless medium, afirst poll to a second access point of a set of access points, measure asignal strength indication sent by one or more STAs served by the secondaccess point based on transmitting the first poll, and select the secondaccess point for coordinated reuse based on measuring the signalstrength indication.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for transmitting, afterwinning contention to a wireless medium, a first poll to a second accesspoint of a set of access points, measuring a signal strength indicationsent by one or more STAs served by the second access point based ontransmitting the first poll, and selecting the second access point forcoordinated reuse based on measuring the signal strength indication.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a first access point is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to transmit, after winningcontention to a wireless medium, a first poll to a second access pointof a set of access points, measure a signal strength indication sent byone or more STAs served by the second access point based on transmittingthe first poll, and select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining a criterionfor coordinated reuse over a TXOP with the second access point based atleast in part the measuring, in which selecting the second access pointmay be based on determining the criterion.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining that thesecond access point satisfies the criterion for coordinated reuse, inwhich selecting the second access point may be based on determining thatthe second access point satisfies the criterion.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the criterion for coordinatedreuse includes a maximum allowed transmit power for the set of accesspoints and may be based on a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of thefirst access point to serve a STA at a modulation and coding scheme(MCS).

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousUL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point based on selectingthe second access point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, performing synchronous ULsignaling over the TXOP may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for transmitting an indication for the second access pointof the set of access points to participate in the synchronous ULsignaling.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the indication includes an SRstart frame and an indication of maximum allowed transmission power forperforming UL signaling over the TXOP.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the firstpoll and measuring the signal strength indication may be part of apolling procedure for the set of access points initiated by the firstaccess point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the first pollto the second access point may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for transmitting the first poll to one or more accesspoints of the set of access points, the method further including.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining, based ondetermining the criterion, that the one or more access points do notsatisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP, in whichtransmitting the first poll to the second access point may be based ondetermining that the one or more access points do not satisfy thecriterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to athird access point of the set of access points, the first poll,measuring a signal strength indication sent by one or more STAs servedby the third access point based on the transmitting and selecting thethird access point for coordinated reuse based on the measuring.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousUL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point and the thirdaccess point based on selecting the second access point and the thirdaccess point for coordinated reuse.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, performing synchronous ULsignaling over the TXOP may include operations, features, means, orinstructions for allocating a first sub-band of the TXOP for ULsignaling associated for the second access point and a second sub-bandof the TXOP for UL signaling associated for the third access point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the SR pollframe to the second access point may include operations, features,means, or instructions for allocating resources of the first poll for aset of access points of the set of access points and transmitting thefirst poll to the set of access points based on allocating the resourcesof the SR poll frame.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for measuring a signalstrength indication sent by one or more STAs served by a third accesspoint of the set of access points and selecting the third access pointfor coordinated reuse based on measuring the signal strength indication.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousUL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point and the thirdaccess point based on selecting the second access point and the thirdaccess point for coordinated reuse.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining contents ofa preamble for a second poll by one or more access points of the set ofaccess points based on the transmitting, in which measuring the signalstrength indication may be based on the contents of the preamble.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the second poll includes anull packet trigger frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the null packet trigger frameincludes one or more broadcast resource units (RUs) containing a BSScolor mapping, in which the BSS color mapping of the one or morebroadcast RUs may be based on a bit indication in a field of the nullpacket trigger frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first poll includes an SRpoll frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR poll frame includesone or more of schedule information for a TXOP or UL reuse information.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the schedule informationincludes UL slot sizes and durations for one or more UL slots of theTXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the UL reuse informationincludes one or more of a maximum allowed interference for the firstaccess point or BSSIDs of the set of access points.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the SR poll frame of thefirst poll includes a trigger frame.

A method of wireless communication at a first access point is described.The method may include measuring a signal strength indication of a firstresponse sent by a STA to a second access point serving the STA, inwhich the first response is based on a first poll transmitted by thesecond access point, identifying an indication to report the measuringof the signal strength indication of the first response sent by the STAbased on the measuring, and transmitting a second response to the secondaccess point based on identifying the indication to report the measuringof the signal strength indication of the first response.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to measure a signal strength indication of a first responsesent by a STA to a second access point serving the STA, in which thefirst response is based on a first poll transmitted by the second accesspoint, identify an indication to report the measuring of the signalstrength indication of the first response sent by the STA based on themeasuring, and transmit a second response to the second access pointbased on identifying the indication to report the measuring of thesignal strength indication of the first response.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for measuring a signalstrength indication of a first response sent by a STA to a second accesspoint serving the STA, in which the first response is based on a firstpoll transmitted by the second access point, identifying an indicationto report the measuring of the signal strength indication of the firstresponse sent by the STA based on the measuring, and transmitting asecond response to the second access point based on identifying theindication to report the measuring of the signal strength indication ofthe first response.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a first access point is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to measure a signal strengthindication of a first response sent by a STA to a second access pointserving the STA, in which the first response is based on a first polltransmitted by the second access point, identify an indication to reportthe measuring of the signal strength indication of the first responsesent by the STA based on the measuring, and transmit a second responseto the second access point based on identifying the indication to reportthe measuring of the signal strength indication of the first response.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from thesecond access point, a second poll that may be transmitted afterreceiving the first response from the STA served by the first accesspoint.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the secondpoll may be based on one or more access points of the set of accesspoints not satisfying a criterion for coordinated reuse over a TXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the second poll includes anSR poll frame.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indicationfrom the second access point to participate in coordinated reuse over aTXOP based on transmitting the second response and performingsynchronous DL signaling over the TXOP with the second access pointbased on receiving the indication from the second access point toparticipate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first poll includes aMU-RTS frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first response includes aCTS frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the second response includesan SR response frame.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining one or moremeasurement values including one or more of an RSSI measurement of thefirst response by the STA served by the first access point, a minimum DLtransmit power to service one or more additional STAs by the secondaccess point, buffer status report (BSR) information, or bandwidth queryreport (BQR) information, in which transmitting the SR response frame ofthe second response may be based on determining the one or moremeasurement values.

A method of wireless communication at a first access point is described.The method may include receiving, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a first poll, transmitting, to one or more STAs served bythe first access point, a second poll based on receiving the first poll,and receiving an indication from the second access point to participatein coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmitting the second poll.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause theapparatus to receive, from a second access point of a set of accesspoints, a first poll, transmit, to one or more STAs served by the firstaccess point, a second poll based on receiving the first poll, andreceive an indication from the second access point to participate incoordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmitting the second poll.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a first access point isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from a secondaccess point of a set of access points, a first poll, transmitting, toone or more STAs served by the first access point, a second poll basedon receiving the first poll, and receiving an indication from the secondaccess point to participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based ontransmitting the second poll.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a first access point is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to receive, from a second accesspoint of a set of access points, a first poll, transmit, to one or moreSTAs served by the first access point, a second poll based on receivingthe first poll, and receive an indication from the second access pointto participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmittingthe second poll.

Some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for performing synchronousUL signaling over the TXOP with the second access point based onreceiving the indication from the second access point to participate incoordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, receiving the first poll mayinclude operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving anindication of a resource allocation within the first poll for a set ofaccess points of the set of access points, in which transmitting thesecond poll may be based on the indication of the resource allocation.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first poll includes an SRpoll frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the second pollmay include operations, features, means, or instructions fortransmitting a null packet trigger frame to the one or more STAs servedby the first access point.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the null packet trigger frameincludes one or more broadcast resource units (RUs) containing a BSScolor mapping that may be based on a bit indication in a field of thenull packet trigger frame.

In some implementations of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the null packettrigger frame may include operations, features, means, or instructionsfor transmitting the null packet trigger frame in a high efficiency (HE)multi-user (MU) PPDU.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter describedin this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will becomeapparent from the description, the drawings and the claims. Note thatthe relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn toscale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example AP that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an example STA that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a call flow that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a call flow that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a call flow that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a call flow that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a null packet trigger frame structurethat supports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show block diagrams of devices that support improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 14 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 15 through 24 show flowcharts illustrating methods that supportimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is directed to implementations for thepurposes of describing innovative aspects of this disclosure. However, aperson having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that theteachings herein can be applied in a multitude of different ways. Thedescribed implementations can be implemented in any device, system ornetwork that is capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency(RF) signals according to any of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, or the Bluetooth®standards.

The described implementations also can be implemented in any device,system or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving RFsignals according to any of the following technologies or techniques:code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communications(GSM), GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband-CDMA(W-CDMA), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1×EV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DORev B, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed Downlink PacketAccess (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved HighSpeed Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or otherknown signals that are used to communicate within a wireless, cellularor internet of things (IOT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4Gor 5G, or further implementations thereof, technology.

In some wireless communications systems, including wireless local areanetworks (WLANs), extended high throughput (EHT) environments mayprovide additional capabilities for coordinated functionality betweenaccess points (APs) of one or more basic service sets (BSSs) of thenetwork. The APs may operate independently as part of an un-managednetwork, supported by diverse vendors or operators without backhaulconnectivity between APs. In accordance with the configured EHTcapabilities, the set of un-managed APs may support coordinationaccording to over-the-air signaling cooperation, to identify improvedspatial reuse opportunities within a transmission opportunity (TXOP) ona wireless medium. Such coordination for spatial reuse may also bereferred to as coordinated reuse. Coordinated reuse may includesynchronized uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) transmissions by the group ofun-managed APs over the TXOP. In some examples, the implementation ofcoordinated reuse may improve interference management of trafficcorresponding to the one or more supported BSSs of the group of APs, andmay improve system throughput associated with UL or DL transmissions tomanaged stations (STAs) of the supported BSSs.

Techniques for identifying spatial reuse opportunities for participationin coordinated reuse are described. The described techniques may includeAP coordination through one or more of polling procedures or a measuredsignal strength indication, and include enablement of TXOP operationwith the AP coordination. A group of APs may coordinate to determine oneor more reuse criteria for performing spatial reuse over a TXOP. Thegroup may be selected on a transient basis to participate in synchronoustransmission according to the participation in coordinated reuse andenhance the reuse opportunities on resources of the medium.

As described, an AP may contend for resources of a wireless medium andmay identify a TXOP for signaling based on winning contention foraccess. The AP may be referred to as an AP owner (or in some examples, aTXOP leader or AP leader). The AP (for example, the AP owner, the TXOPleader, the AP leader) may initiate a procedure for selecting anun-managed AP based on receiving the measured signal strength indicator.The AP (for example, the AP owner, the TXOP leader, the AP leader) mayalso determine one or more reuse criteria associated with participationin coordinated reuse over a TXOP. The AP owner may perform polling of aset of un-managed APs that support coordinated reuse, including thetransmission of one or more spatial reuse poll frames, as part ofdetermining the one or more reuse criteria. In some examples, the APowner may perform the polling and may individually (for example,sequentially) transmit the spatial reuse poll frames to one or more APswithin the set of APs. In other examples, the AP owner may transmit eachof one or more spatial reuse poll frames to multiple APs. In someexamples, the one or more spatial reuse poll frames may be or includetrigger frames.

Based on the polling, the AP owner may receive a response indicationfrom one or more APs of the set of un-managed APs, or directly measurepotential interference of a service supported (for example, ULtransmission) at one or more APs of the set of un-managed APs, anddetermine a group of APs for coordinated reuse over the TXOP. The APowner may determine the group of APs on a transient basis, such as aTXOP by TXOP basis, based on satisfaction of the one or more reusecriteria. The determined group of APs may then be allocated resourcesduring the TXOP as part of spatial reuse for synchronous transmissionover the TXOP. The spatial reuse of resources during the TXOP may reduceinterference and improve data throughput associated with coordinated ULor DL transmissions during the TXOP. Techniques described herein mayfurther provide for increased access priority for the AP owner, forexample, based on one or more of the number of included overlapping BSS(OBSS) APs participating in coordinated reuse over the TXOP, thecapability for multiple APs across multiple slots of the obtained TXOP,or the inclusion of one or more multiple reuse criteria for allocations(such as, sub-bands) during the TXOP.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks. According tosome aspects, the wireless communications system 100 can be an exampleof a WLAN (and will hereinafter be referred to as WLAN 100). Forexample, the WLAN 100 can be a network implementing at least one of theIEEE 802.11 family of standards. The WLAN 100 may include numerouswireless devices such as an AP 105 and multiple associated STAs 115.Each of the STAs 115 also may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), amobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal(AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriberunit, among other possibilities. The STAs 115 may represent variousdevices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistant (PDAs), otherhandheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers,laptops, display devices (for example, TVs, computer monitors,navigation systems, among others), printers, key fobs (for example, forpassive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), among otherpossibilities.

Each of the STAs 115 may associate and communicate with the AP 105 via acommunication link 110. The various STAs 115 in the network are able tocommunicate with one another through the AP 105. A single AP 105 and anassociated set of STAs 115 may be referred to as a BSS. FIG. 1additionally shows an example coverage area 120 of the AP 105, which mayrepresent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. While only one AP105 is shown, the WLAN 100 can include multiple APs 105. An extendedservice set (ESS) may include a set of connected BSSs. An extendednetwork station associated with the WLAN 100 may be connected to a wiredor wireless distribution system that may allow multiple APs 105 to beconnected in such an ESS. As such, a STA 115 can be covered by more thanone AP 105 and can associate with different APs 105 at different timesfor different transmissions.

STAs 115 may function and communicate (via the respective communicationlinks 110) according to the IEEE 802.11 family of standards andamendments including, but not limited to, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad, 802.11ah, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, and802.11ba. These standards define the WLAN radio and baseband protocolsfor the physical layer and medium access control (MAC) layer. Thewireless devices in the WLAN 100 may communicate over an unlicensedspectrum, which may be a portion of spectrum that includes frequencybands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz band,the 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, and the 900 MHz band.The unlicensed spectrum may also include other frequency bands, such asthe emerging 6 GHz band. The wireless devices in the WLAN 100 also canbe configured to communicate over other frequency bands such as sharedlicensed frequency bands, in which multiple operators may have a licenseto operate in the same or overlapping frequency band or bands.

In some examples, STAs 115 may form networks without APs 105 or otherequipment other than the STAs 115 themselves. One example of such anetwork is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). Ad hocnetworks may alternatively be referred to as mesh networks orpeer-to-peer (P2P) connections. In some examples, ad hoc networks may beimplemented within a larger wireless network such as the WLAN 100. Insuch implementations, while the STAs 115 may be capable of communicatingwith each other through the AP 105 using communication links 110, STAs115 also can communicate directly with each other via direct wirelesscommunication links 125. Additionally, two STAs 115 may communicate viaa direct communication link 125 regardless of whether both STAs 115 areassociated with and served by the same AP 105. In such an ad hoc system,one or more of the STAs 115 may assume the role filled by the AP 105 ina BSS. Such a STA 115 may be referred to as a group owner (GO) and maycoordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of directwireless communication links 125 include Wi-Fi Direct connections,connections established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup(TDLS) link, and other peer-to-peer (P2P) group connections.

In some examples, some types of STAs 115 or APs 105 may be configuredfor EHT operations and may have supported functionality on a dynamicchannel bandwidth spectrum. The dynamic channel bandwidth spectrum maybe a portion of the frequency spectrum that includes frequency bandsabove the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, including frequency bandstraditionally used for Wi-Fi technology or the emerging 6 GHz band. Eachband (for example, the 5 GHz band) may contain multiple channels (forexample, each channel may span 20 MHz in frequency, 40 MHz in frequency,80 MHz in frequency), each of which may be usable by configured STAs 115or APs 105. Based on the enhanced functionality supported by EHT modesof operation, supported extensions to available channel bandwidthspectrum (for example, 320 MHz, 160+160 MHz) may be possible.

Some types of STAs 115 may provide for automated communication.Automated wireless devices may include those implementinginternet-of-things (IoT) communication, Machine-to-Machine (M2M)communication, or machine type communication (MTC). IoT, M2M or MTC mayrefer to data communication technologies that allow devices tocommunicate without human intervention. For example, IoT, M2M or MTC mayrefer to communications from STAs 115 that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay that information to acentral server or application program that can make use of theinformation or present the information to humans interacting with theprogram or application.

Some types of APs 105 may provide for AP coordination using over-the-airsignaling. Different levels of coordination may be supported by the APs105, with associated synchronization for the different levels. Forexample, in some examples, one or more APs 105 may support coordinationwithout synchronization (in some examples, known as level-1synchronization) in which the APs 105 may coordinate to share loadinformation, user-management, admission control, and BSS transitionmanagement, such as handover. In some examples, one or more APs 105 maysupport coordination with loose synchronization (in some examples, knownas level-2 synchronization) in which APs 105 may coordinate forinterference management and simultaneous transmission on a TXOP by TXOPbasis. In some examples, one or more APs 105 may support coordinationwith tight (for example, symbol level) synchronization (in someexamples, known as level-3 synchronization) in which APs 105 may performcoordinated beamforming and transmit null packets to STAs 115 served onother BSSs, to reduce interference. In other cases, one or more APs 105may support coordination with tight (for example, sub-symbol level)synchronization (in some examples, known as level-4 synchronization) inwhich APs 105 may coordinate for a joint multiple-input, multiple-output(MIMO) wireless systems transmission, in which a STA 115 may be servedby multiple APs 105.

Some of STAs 115 may be MTC devices, such as MTC devices designed tocollect information or enable automated behavior of machines. Examplesof applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging. An MTCdevice may operate using half-duplex (one-way) communications at areduced peak rate. MTC devices may also be configured to enter a powersaving “deep sleep” mode when not engaging in active communications.

WLAN 100 may support beamformed transmissions. As an example, the AP 105may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamformingoperations for directional communications with a STA 115. Beamforming(which may also be referred to as spatial filtering or directionaltransmission) is a signal processing technique that may be used at atransmitter (for example, the AP 105) to shape or steer an overallantenna beam in the direction of a target receiver (for example, a STA115). Beamforming may be achieved by combining elements in an antennaarray in such a way that transmitted signals at particular anglesexperience constructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. In some examples, the ways in which the elements of theantenna array are combined at the transmitter may depend on channelstate information (CSI) associated with the channels over which the AP105 may communicate with the STA 115. That is, based on this CSI, the AP105 may appropriately weight the transmissions from each antenna (forexample, or antenna port) such that the desired beamforming effects areachieved. In some examples, these weights may be determined beforebeamforming can be employed. For example, the transmitter (for example,the AP 105) may transmit one or more sounding packets to the receiver inorder to determine CSI.

WLAN 100 may further support MIMO wireless systems. Such systems may usea transmission scheme between a transmitter (for example, the AP 105)and a receiver (for example, a STA 115), in which both transmitter andreceiver are equipped with multiple antennas. For example, the AP 105may have an antenna array with a number of rows and columns of antennaports that the AP 105 may use for beamforming in its communication witha STA 115. Signals may be transmitted multiple times in differentdirections (for example, each transmission may be beamformeddifferently). The receiver (for example, STA 115) may try multiple beams(for example, antenna subarrays) while receiving the signals.

WLAN PDUs may be transmitted over a radio frequency spectrum band, whichin some examples may include multiple sub-bands or frequency channels.In some examples, the radio frequency spectrum band may have a bandwidthof 80 MHz, and each of the sub-bands or channels may have a bandwidth of20 MHz. Transmissions to and from STAs 115 and APs 105 typically includecontrol information within a header that is transmitted prior to datatransmissions. The information provided in a header is used by areceiver to decode the subsequent data. A legacy WLAN preamble mayinclude legacy short training field (STF) (L-STF) information, legacylong training field (L-LTF) information, and legacy signaling (L-SIG)information. The legacy preamble may be used for packet detection,automatic gain control and channel estimation, among other uses. Thelegacy preamble may also be used to maintain compatibility with legacydevices.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example AP 200 that supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks. For example, the AP 200 may be anexample of aspects of the AP 105 described with reference to FIG. 1. TheAP 200 can be configured to send and receive WLAN frames (also referredto herein as transmissions or communications) conforming to an IEEE802.11 standard (such as the 802.11ac or 802.11ax amendments to the802.11 family of standards), as well as to encode and decode suchframes. The AP 200 includes a processor 210, a memory 220, at least onetransceiver 230 and at least one antenna 240. In some implementations,the AP 200 also includes one or both of an AP communications module 260and a network communications module 270. Each of the components (or“modules”) described with reference to FIG. 2 can communicate with oneanother, directly or indirectly, over at least one bus 205.

The memory 220 can include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 220 also can store processor- orcomputer-executable software code 225 containing instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor 210, cause the processor to perform variousfunctions described herein for wireless communication, includinggeneration and transmission of a DL frame and reception of an UL frame.

The processor 210 can include an intelligent hardware device such as,for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a programmable logicdevice (PLD) such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), among otherpossibilities. The processor 210 processes information received throughthe transceiver 230, the AP communications module 260, and the networkcommunications module 270. The processor 210 also can processinformation to be sent to the transceiver 230 for transmission throughthe antenna 240, information to be sent to the AP communications module260, and information to be sent to the network communications module270. The processor 210 can generally be configured to perform variousoperations related to generating and transmitting a DL frame andreceiving an UL frame.

The transceiver 230 can include a modem to modulate packets and providethe modulated packets to the antenna 240 for transmission, as well as todemodulate packets received from the antenna 240. The transceiver 230can be implemented as at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter andat least one separate RF receiver. The transceiver 230 can communicatebi-directionally, via the antenna 240, with at least one STA 115 as, forexample, shown with reference to FIG. 1. Although only one transceiver230 and one antenna 240 are shown with reference to FIG. 2, the AP 200can typically include multiple transceivers 220 and antennas 240. Forexample, in some AP implementations, the AP 200 can include multipletransmit antennas (each with a corresponding transmit chain) andmultiple receive antennas (each with a corresponding receive chain). TheAP 200 may communicate with a core network 280 through the networkcommunications module 270. The system also may communicate with otherAPs, such as APs 105, using the AP communications module 260.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an example STA 300 supports improvedspatial reuse for WLAN networks. For example, the STA 300 may be anexample of aspects of the STA 115 described with reference to FIG. 1.The STA 300 can be configured to send and receive WLAN frames (alsoreferred to herein as transmissions or communications) conforming to anIEEE 802.11 standard (such as the 802.11ac or 802.11ax amendments to the802.11 family of standards), as well as to encode and decode suchframes. The STA 300 includes a processor 310, a memory 320, at least onetransceiver 330 and at least one antenna 340. In some implementations,the STA 300 additionally includes one or more of sensors 350, a display360 and a user interface (UI) 370 (such as a touchscreen or keypad).Each of the components (or “modules”) described with reference to FIG. 3can communicate with one another, directly or indirectly, over at leastone bus 305.

The memory 320 can include RAM and ROM. The memory 320 also can storeprocessor- or computer-executable software code 325 containinginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor 310 to performvarious functions described herein for wireless communication, includingreception of a DL frame and generation and transmission of an UL frame.

The processor 310 includes an intelligent hardware device such as, forexample, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC or a PLD such as an FPGA,among other possibilities. The processor 310 processes informationreceived through the transceiver 330 as well as information to be sentto the transceiver 330 for transmission through the antenna 340. Theprocessor 310 can be configured to perform various operations related toreceiving a DL frame and generating and transmitting an UL frame.

The transceiver 330 can include a modem to modulate packets and providethe modulated packets to the antenna 340 for transmission, as well as todemodulate packets received from the antenna 340. The transceiver 330can be implemented as at least one RF transmitter and at least oneseparate RF receiver. The transceiver 330 can communicatebi-directionally, via the antenna 340, with at least one AP 105 as, forexample, shown with reference to FIG. 1. Although only one transceiver330 and one antenna 340 are shown with reference to FIG. 3, the STA 300can include two or more antennas. For example, in some STAimplementations, the STA 300 can include multiple transmit antennas(each with a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas(each with a corresponding receive chain).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 400that supports features for improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks.Wireless communications system 400 may be an example of a WLAN, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1. Wireless communications system 400may include numerous APs 105 serving one or more associated STAs 115over a coverage area 120 (for example, the coverage areas 120-a, 120-b,120-c). An AP 105 may associate and communicate with the one or moreassociated STAs 115 via the communication link 110, as described withreference to FIG. 1. A single AP 105 and the associated STAs 115 servedby the AP 105 (for example, the STA 115-a served by the AP 105-a) may bereferred to as a BSS.

Wireless communications system 400 may be an un-managed wirelessnetwork, with limited over-the-air cooperation between the APs 105 ofthe network. Each of the APs 105-a, 105-b, or 105-c may operateindependently as part of the un-managed network, which may not supportbackhaul connectivity or centralized control. For example, each of theAPs 105-a, 105-b, or 105-c may be supported by diverse vendors oroperators with limited over-the-air cooperation. As described, each ofthe APs 105-a, 105-b, or 105-c may be configured for EHT operability onthe wireless communications system 400 and may be configured forcoordinated reuse within a configured range (for example, within aconfigured distance between the APs 105 and averting natural reuseimplementation). Based on the supported EHT operability, the un-managedAPs 105 may support enhanced operability for spatial reuse parametersupported reuse.

In some examples, the enhanced operability may include coordination ofthe APs 105, according to over-the-air signaling cooperation, toidentify improved spatial reuse opportunities within a TXOP on awireless medium. The coordination may include loose synchronization ofsignaling between the BSSs of the un-managed network (for example,level-2 coordination) over the TXOP. The synchronization may beassociated with concurrent UL or DL transmissions by the group of theun-managed APs 105, on a TXOP by TXOP basis, to improve interferencemanagement of traffic corresponding to the BSSs and to improve systemthroughput of the transmissions.

A first un-managed AP 105-a may contend with one or more additionalun-managed APs 105 for a resource medium of the network. The AP 105-amay win the contention and as a result, identify and obtain a TXOP fordata transmission (for example, DL or UL transmission). Based on theidentifying, the AP 105-a may perform a polling procedure fordetermining a group of un-managed APs 105 for coordinated reuse ofresources during the obtained TXOP. The polling procedure may includetransmissions to one or more devices of the network. In some examples,the polling procedure may include the transmission of a first message tothe served STAs 115 (for example, the STA 115-a) of the supported BSS ofthe AP 105-a. Additionally or alternatively, the polling procedure mayinclude the transmission of a second message to the un-managed APs ofthe network, such as the APs 105-b or 105-c.

In the case of a DL TXOP, the AP 105-a may transmit control signaling toan intended STA 115-a. The STA 115-a may be one of a number of STAs 115included in the BSS associated with the AP 105-a. In addition, thetransmitted control signaling may include one or more indicationsincluding reuse feedback for the un-managed APs 105 that are configuredfor coordinated reuse on the un-managed network (for example, APs 105-bor 105-c). In some examples, the AP 105-a may transmit an enhanced ormodified request-to-send (RTS) frame, such as a multi-user RTS (MU-RTS)frame, to the STA 115-a as part of an RTS clear-to-send (CTS) procedure.The MU-RTS frame may alert APs 105-b and 105-c to measure the CTSmessage provided by STA 115-a in response to the RTS frame transmission.For example, the MU-RTS frame may include a user information fielddirected to the STA 115-a for use in providing a CTS response to theMU-RTS frame. Additionally, the MU-RTS frame may include one or moreadditional user information fields addressed to other APs of the set ofAPs, including the APs 105-b and 105-c. Each of the one or moreadditional user information fields may include an indication to senseand measure the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the CTSresponse by STA 115-a and report the measured RSSI based on the sensing.In providing an indication to at least the APs 105-b and 105-c via theuser information field of the MU-RTS frame, the AP 105-a may format theMU-RTS frame according to a modified field format.

Following the control signaling, the AP 105-a may transmit a spatialreuse poll frame to the one or more un-managed APs 105. The spatialreuse poll frame may include one or more of schedule information for theobtained TXOP or DL reuse information over the TXOP. In response to thetransmission of the spatial reuse poll frame, the one or more un-managedAPs 105 may transmit a spatial reuse response to the AP 105-a. Thespatial reuse response may be a frame that includes one or more ofmeasured reuse feedback information (for example, a measured power levelfor the CTS associated with the RTS CTS procedure initiated by the AP105-a), an expected minimum transmit power for serving the supportedSTAs 115 (such as the STAs 115-b, 115-c) for DL reuse transmission, oradditional feedback information.

Based on the polling procedure, the AP 105-a may determine one or morereuse criteria for the selection of the un-managed APs 105 forcoordinated DL reuse over the obtained TXOP. That is, the AP 105-a mayset one or more reuse criteria for determining if the DL signaling ofthe AP 105-b or the AP 105-c may be supported for DL reuse. The one ormore reuse criteria may correspond to a transmit power threshold foracceptable interference between the BSS associated with the AP 105-a andthe BSSs associated with the un-managed APs 105. The AP 105-a may beconfigured with a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) to serve the STAs115 (for example, STA 115-a) of the BSS associated with the AP 105-ausing a desired modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Based on theconfigured SIR value, the AP 105-a may determine the maximum allowedtransmit power for each of the un-managed APs 105 included in thepolling procedure. For example, the AP 105-a may determine a maximumallowed transmit power for AP 105-b according to Equation (1) below.T ₂=(T ₁−SIR)+(PL ₂ −PL ₁)  (1)

In Equation (1), T₁ may be the DL signal transmit power of the AP 105-ato the supported STA 115-a, SIR may be the configured SIR of AP 105-a,as detailed above, and PL₁ and PL₂ may be measured path loss values forAP 105-a and AP 105-b, respectively, to STA 115-a. As illustrated, pathloss PL₁ may be associated with attenuation 405 over the spatialdisplacement between the AP 105-a and the STA 115-a for DL transmissionover a communication link. Similarly, path loss PL₂ may be associatedwith attenuation over the spatial distance of the AP 105-b to the STA115-a supported by the AP 105-b. In other cases, the AP-105-a maydetermine a maximum allowed transmit power for the AP 105-b based on themeasured receive power of the CTS provided by the STA 115-a as part ofan RTS CTS procedure of the control signaling, for example, according toEquation (2) below.T ₂=(T ₁−SIR)+−(C ₁ −C ₂)  (2)

In Equation (2), C₁ may be the receive power of the CTS sent by the STA115-a, as measured, and C₂ may be the receive power of the CTS sent bythe STA 115-a, in which the AP 105-b may transmit the measured receivepower to the AP 105-a as part of the spatial reuse response frame. Thecalculated values of Equations (1) and (2) may be equivalent due to arelation between the path loss and CTS measurement values, for example,according to Equation (3) below.(C ₁ −C ₂)=(T _(C) −PL ₁)−(T _(C) −PL ₂)=PL ₁ −PL ₂  (3)

In Equation (3), T_(C) is representative of the total transmit power ofthe CTS frame transmission by the STA 115-a. Further, as described, theAP 105-a may perform a similar procedure for determining a maximumallowed transmit power for additional un-managed APs 105 (for example,the AP 105-c) based on the one or more determined measurement values.

The AP 105-a may evaluate the expected minimum transmit power of the oneor more un-managed APs 105 that reported, as received in the spatialreuse response frame, and determine if the reported transmit powersatisfies the determined maximum allowed transmit power, as indicatedabove. Based on the determination, the AP 105-a may then select from theone or more un-managed APs 105 for synchronous DL transmission in theTXOP. For example, the AP 105-a may determine that the reported minimumtransmit power of the AP 105-b to service at least the STA 115-b exceedsthe calculated maximum transmit power for acceptable interference. TheAP 105-a may then not select the AP 105-b for coordinated reuse.Alternatively, the AP 105-a may determine that the reported minimumtransmit power of the AP 105-c to service at least the STA 115-c of theassociated BSS satisfies (falls below) the calculated maximum transmitpower for acceptable interference. The AP 105-a may then select the AP105-c for synchronous DL transmission in the TXOP.

Based on the selection, the AP 105-a may provide an indication to theone or more un-managed APs 105 (for example, AP 105-c) that wereselected for synchronous DL transmission over the TXOP. In someexamples, the indication may be provided as a spatial reuse start framedirected to the one or more un-managed (for example, selected) APs 105.Following the indication, the AP 105-a and the one or more un-managedAPs 105 that were selected may perform synchronous DL transmission in DLslots of the TXOP as part of the coordinated reuse procedure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a call flow 500 that supports featuresfor improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks. The features of call flow500 correspond to operations performed by un-managed APs 105-a, 105-b,and 105-c, as described with reference to FIG. 4. Each of the un-managedAPs 105-a, 105-b, and 105-c may be independent and may serve the STAs115 associated with their respective BSSs, as further described withreference to FIG. 4. The call flow 500, as described, may be an exampleof a sequential polling procedure for determining participation forcoordinated reuse over a TXOP. Such a sequential polling procedure mayinclude the transmission of reuse poll frames to individual APs and mayinclude the reception of spatial reuse response frames from theindividual APs.

The APs 105-a, 105-b, and 105-c may countdown selected timer values of acontention window range for access contention to a resource medium ofthe network. The AP 105-a may win the contention, and identify andobtain a TXOP for DL data transmission over the wireless medium. Basedon the identifying, the AP 105-a may transmit a control frame, MU-RTS505, to the one or more served STAs 115 of the AP 105-a as part of anRTS CTS procedure. In some examples, the AP 105-a may be configured fortransmitting a multiple-user (MU) transmission over different DL slots.As such, the MU-RTS 505 may be a derivative of an MU-RTS indication inaccordance with IEEE 802.11ax standards protocols. In addition, theMU-RTS 505 may include one or more indications including reuse feedbacksignaling for the one or more additional un-managed APs 105 that areconfigured for coordinated reuse on the un-managed network (such as, AP105-b or 105-c). For example, the MU-RTS 505 may carry information onneighboring BSS identifiers (BSSIDs) from which the AP 105-a requestsreuse feedback. The indications of reuse feedback signaling may includeat least an indication for the un-managed APs 105 to measure a CTS frametransmission 510 by each of the one or more of the STAs 115 served by AP105-a, in response to the MU-RTS control frame. Each of the STAs 115served by the AP 105-a may transmit a CTS response (for example CTSframe 510) to the AP 105-a, and at least the APs 105-a, 105-b, and 105-cmay measure an RSSI of the CTS frame 510.

Following the control signaling (for example, the CTS RTS procedure),the AP 105-a may perform a sequential polling procedure for the one ormore un-managed APs 105 for which the indication included reuse feedbacksignaling (for example, APs 105-b or 105-c). In some examples, the AP105-a may transmit a first spatial reuse poll frame 515-a directed toun-managed AP 105-b. The spatial reuse poll frame 515-a may includeschedule information for the obtained TXOP, including DL slot sizes anddurations, as well as DL reuse information, such as the BSSIDs of theun-managed APs 105 capable of coordinated reuse. The spatial reuse pollframe 515-a may further include a request to report the RSSI of CTSframe 510 as measured at the AP 105-b.

In response to the spatial reuse poll frame 515-a, the un-managed AP105-b may transmit a spatial reuse response frame 520-a to the AP 105-a.The spatial reuse response frame 520-a may include the measured CTSresponse of each of the one or more STAs 115 that are served by the AP105-a. The spatial reuse response frame 520-a may further include aminimum DL transmit power to serve the one or more STAs 115 that areserved by the un-managed AP 105-b as part of a BSS. Further, in someexamples, the spatial reuse response frame 520-a may include BSR or BQRinformation.

The AP 105-a may receive the spatial reuse response frame 520-a andprocess the included measurement values. Based on the informationprovided in spatial reuse response frame 520-a, the AP 105-a maydetermine one or more reuse criteria, including a maximum transmit powerof the AP 105-b to support coordinated reuse with acceptableinterference between BSSs of the AP 105-a and the AP 105-b, as detailedwith reference to Equations (1) and (2). In some examples, the AP 105-amay determine that the minimum transmit power indicated by theun-managed AP 105-b as part of the spatial reuse response frame 520-aexceeds the one or more reuse criteria for participating in coordinatedreuse over the TXOP. As a result, the AP 105-a may not select the AP105-b for coordinated reuse and proceed with the polling procedure forthe next un-managed AP (for example, AP 105-c). As such, the pollingprocedure may further include the transmission of the spatial reusepolling frame to the un-managed AP 105-c and the reception of thespatial reuse response frame from the unmanaged AP 105-c.

As described, the AP 105-a may transmit the spatial reuse poll frame515-b to the AP 105-c. The spatial reuse poll frame 515-b may includeone or more of schedule information or DL reuse information values ofspatial reuse poll frame 515-a. The un-managed AP 105-c may receivespatial reuse poll frame 515-b and, in response, transmit a spatialreuse response frame 520-b to AP 105-a. The spatial reuse response frame520-b may include the measured CTS response of each of one or more ofthe STAs 115 served by the AP 105-a. The spatial reuse response frame520-b may further include a minimum DL transmit power to serve the oneor more STAs 115 that are served by the un-managed AP 105-c as part of aBSS. Further, in some examples, the spatial reuse response frame 520-bmay include BSR or BQR information.

The AP 105-a may receive the spatial reuse response frame 520-b anddetermine one or more reuse criteria, including a maximum transmit powerto support coordinated reuse with acceptable interference, based on theinformation provided in the spatial reuse response frame 520-c. In someexamples, the AP 105-a may determine that the included minimum transmitpower indicated by the un-managed AP 105-c satisfies the calculatedreuse criteria for participating in coordinated reuse over the TXOP. TheAP 105-a may then select the AP 105-c for synchronized DL transmissionover the obtained TXOP as part of a coordinated reuse procedure.

The AP 105-a and the one or more selected un-managed APs 105, includingat least the AP 105-c, may transmit DL signaling 525 (for example,525-a, 525-b) over the TXOP based on satisfaction of the one or morecriteria for coordinated reuse. In some examples in which multiple APs105 are selected for coordinated reuse, the AP 105-a may multiplex themultiple APs 105 on different slots or sub-bands of the obtained TXOP.By performing spatial reuse of resources during the TXOP and promotingthe synchronous DL transmission by the un-managed APs 105, the AP 105-amay reduce interference between BSSs of the network and may improvetotal data throughput associated with the DL transmission to the servedSTAs 115. Additionally, in some examples, the AP 105-a may obtain alonger TXOP or increased access priority for resources of the wirelessmedium based on the number of un-managed APs of OBSSs selected forcoordinated reuse.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a call flow 600 that supports featuresfor improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks. The features of call flow600 correspond to operations performed by the un-managed APs 105-a,105-b, and 105-c, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Each ofthe un-managed APs 105-a, 105-b, and 105-c may be independent and mayserve associated STAs 115 of a respective BSS, as further described withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The call flow 600, as described, may be anexample of a polling procedure for multiple APs. Such a pollingprocedure may include the transmission of spatial reuse poll frames,which may be examples of trigger frames, to multiple APs and thereception of spatial reuse response frames via a high efficiency (HE)trigger-based (TB) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), and may beused for determining participation for coordinated reuse over a TXOP.

The APs 105-a, 105-b, and 105-c may countdown selected timer values of acontention window range for access contention to a resource medium ofthe network. The AP 105-a may win the contention and identify and obtaina TXOP for DL data transmission over the wireless medium. Based on theidentifying, the AP 105-a may transmit a control frame MU-RTS 605 to theone or more served STAs 115 of the AP 105-a as part of an RTS CTSprocedure. In addition, the control frame may include one or moreindications of reuse-feedback signaling for the one or more additionalun-managed APs 105 configured for coordinated reuse on the un-managednetwork (such as the APs 105-b or 105-c). The indications ofreuse-feedback may include at least an indication for the un-managed APs105 to measure a CTS frame transmission 610 by each of the STAs 115served by the AP 105-a in response to the MU-RTS control frame. Each ofthe STAs 115 served by the AP 105-a may transmit a CTS response (forexample CTS frame 610) to AP 105-a, and at least the APs 105-a, 105-b.The STA 105-c may measure an RSSI indication of the CTS frame 610.

In some examples, the AP 105-a may perform the multiple-AP pollingprocedure and provide the functionality of spatial reuse poll frame 615in the MU-RTS frame 605 (for example, MU-RTS-TF) directed to at leastthe STA 115-a of the supported BSS associated with the AP 105-a. TheMU-RTS frame 605 may have a trigger frame structure and support EHToperations on the wireless medium. For example, MU-RTS frame 605 mayinclude a first field of user info for multiple-access point RTSoperation, including soliciting a CTS response 610. Additionally, MU-RTSframe 605 may further include one or more additional fields of user infoencoded to include one or more BSSIDs to solicit an SR response framefrom the set of un-managed APs 105, including at least the APs 105-b and105-c. In some examples, a single field of user info of the MU-RTS frame605 may contain the BSSIDs for the set of un-managed APs. In othercases, a field of user info may be allocated for each BSSID of the setof un-managed APs. In providing the transmission of spatial reuse pollframes as part of the MU-RTS 605, the AP 105-a may reduce messageoverhead for performing the polling procedure associated with theparticipation selection for coordinated reuse.

In some examples, the AP 105-a may perform the polling procedure formultiple AP and provide the functionality of the spatial reuse pollframe 615 in the CTS frame 610 (for example, e-CTS) provided by theserved STAs 115 (for example, STA 115-a) of the AP 105-a in response tothe MU-RTS 605. The CTS frame 610 may include a HE preamble and supportEHT operations on the wireless medium (for example, a structure similarto a HE TB PPDU). In some examples, HE-SIG fields within CTS frame 610may provide an identification indication for the set of un-managed APs105 monitoring the CTS frame 610 as indicated in MU-RTS frame 605. Forexample, a HE-SIG-A field of the CTS frame 610 may include 25+1 totalavailable candidate bits for providing identification indication for theset of un-managed APs 105. The available candidate bits may correspondto 16 (4×4) candidate bits for SR in supplement to the available 9 bits(for example, bits 7-15) plus 1 bit (for example, bit 23) within the CTSframe 610. The candidate bits of the CTS frame 610 may further supportan encoding for a BSS coloring indication (for example, 6-bits of eachBSS) for addressing medium contention overhead (such as, due to OBSSspatial reuse). In transmitting the spatial reuse poll frames as part ofthe CTS frame 610, the AP 105-a may reduce message overhead forperforming the polling procedure associated with the participationselection for coordinated reuse.

In other cases, following the control signaling (for example, the CTSRTS procedure), the AP 105-a may perform the multiple-AP pollingprocedure and transmit spatial reuse poll frame 615 to at leastun-managed APs 105-b and 105-c as a trigger frame. The spatial reusepoll frame 615 may include schedule information for the obtained TXOP,including DL slot sizes and durations as well as DL reuse informationsuch as the BSSIDs of the un-managed APs 105 capable of coordinatedreuse. The spatial reuse poll frame 615 may further include a request toreport the measured RSSI of CTS frame 610.

In response to the transmission of the spatial reuse poll frame by atleast one of the MU-RTS 605, the CTS frame 610, or the distinct SR pollframe 615, the un-managed APs 105-b and 105-c may transmit the spatialreuse response frames 620-a and 620-b, respectively, to the AP 105-a. Inthe case of the transmission of the spatial reuse poll frame as part ofthe MU-RTS 605 or the CTS frame 610, the APs 105-b and 105-c maytransmit the spatial reuse response frame 620-a and 620-b following ashort interframe space (SIFs) duration. Each of the spatial reuseresponse frames 620-a and 620-b may be carried in a HE TB PPDU format.For example, the spatial reuse response frames 620-a and 620-b may becarried as part of a subfield encoding of a signal (SIG) field, such asthe HE-SIG-A or HE-SIG-B fields of the HE TB PPDU. The spatial reuseresponse frames 620 may include the measured CTS response of each of theSTAs 115 served by AP 105-a. The spatial reuse response frame 620-a mayinclude a minimum DL transmit power to serve the one or more STAs 115that are served by the AP 105-b. Similarly, the spatial reuse responseframe 620-b may include a minimum DL transmit power. Further, in someexamples, the spatial reuse response frames 620 may include BSR or BQRinformation.

The AP 105-a may receive the spatial reuse response frames (for example,as part of the received HE TB PPDU) for the set of un-managed APs 105included in the polling procedure, including at least the spatial reuseresponse frames 620-a and 620-b, and determine one or more reusecriteria. In some examples, the criteria may include an allowablemaximum transmit power to support coordinated reuse with the AP 105-aover the TXOP with acceptable interference for the AP 105-a, as detailedwith reference to equations (1) and (2). In some examples, the AP 105-amay determine that the included minimum transmit power indicated by theun-managed AP 105-b exceeds the calculated reuse criterion forparticipating in coordinated reuse over the TXOP. Additionally oralternatively, the AP 105-a may determine that the included minimumtransmit power indicated by the un-managed AP 105-c satisfies thecalculated reuse criterion for participating in coordinated reuse overthe TXOP. The AP 105-a may then select the AP 105-c for coordinatedreuse over the TXOP while not selecting the AP 105-b based on the one ormore calculated reuse criteria.

The AP 105-a may determine to provide a reuse opportunity forsynchronous DL signaling over the obtained TXOP for a group ofun-managed APs 105, including the AP 105-c, according to the selection.As part of the determination, the AP 105-a may transmit an indicationfor identifying the group of un-managed APs 105 of the selection. Forexample, the AP 105-a may transmit a spatial reuse start frame 625 tothe un-managed APs 105, including an indication for identifying thedetermined group of un-managed APs 105 for participating in synchronousDL signaling over the obtained TXOP. The spatial reuse start frame 625may further include an indication for the maximum allowed transmit powersupported for DL reuse transmission over the TXOP.

The AP 105-a and one or more of the un-managed APs 105 of the selection,including at least the AP 105-c, may transmit DL signaling 630 (forexample, 630-a, 630-b) over the TXOP following spatial reuse start frame625. In some examples, the AP 105-a may multiplex the multiple APs 105on different slots or sub-bands of the obtained TXOP for the selectionof multiple APs 105 for coordinated reuse. Additionally oralternatively, the DL slots of the TXOP may be repeated to amortize theoverhead of one or more reuse criteria, and may be determined by the AP105-a. By performing spatial reuse of resources during the TXOP andpromoting synchronous DL transmission by the un-managed APs 105, the AP105-a may reduce interference between BSSs of the network and improvetotal data throughput associated with DL transmission to the served STAs115. Additionally, in some examples, the AP 105-a may obtain a longerTXOP or increased access priority for resources of the wireless mediumbased on the number of un-managed APs of OBSSs selected for coordinatedreuse.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 700that supports features for improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks.Wireless communications system 700 may be an example of a WLAN, asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. Wireless communicationssystem 700 may include numerous APs 105 serving one or more associatedSTAs 115 over a coverage area 120 (for example, coverage areas 120-d,120-e, and 120-f). An AP 105 may associate with and communicate witheach of the one or more associated STAs 115 via a communication link110, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. A single AP 105 andassociated STAs 115 that are served by the AP 105 (for example, STA115-d served by AP 105-d) may be referred to as a BSS.

Wireless communications system 700 may be an un-managed wirelessnetwork, with limited over-the-air cooperation between the APs 105 ofthe network. Each of the APs 105-d, 105-e, or 105-f may operateindependently as part of the un-managed network without backhaulconnectivity or centralized control. For example, each of the APs 105-d,105-e, or 105-f may be supported by diverse vendors or operators withlimited over-the-air cooperation. As described, each of the APs 105-d,105-e, or 105-f may be configured for EHT operability on the wirelesscommunications system 700 and may be configured for coordinated reusewithin a configured range (for example, within a configured distancebetween the APs 105 and averting natural reuse implementation). Based onthe supported EHT operability, the un-managed APs 105 may supportenhanced operability for the spatial reuse parameter supported reuse.

In some examples, the enhanced operability may include coordination ofthe APs 105, according to over-the-air signaling cooperation, toidentify improved spatial reuse opportunities within a TXOP on awireless medium. The coordination may include loose synchronization ofsignaling between BSSs of the un-managed network (for example, level-2coordination) over the TXOP. The synchronization may be associated withconcurrent UL or DL transmissions by the group of un-managed APs 105, ona TXOP by TXOP basis, to improve interference management of trafficcorresponding to the BSSs and improve system throughput of thetransmissions.

A first un-managed AP 105-d may contend with one or more additionalun-managed APs 105 for a resource medium of the network. AP 105-d maywin the contention and as a result may identify and obtain a TXOP fordata transmission (for example, DL or UL transmission). Based on theidentifying, the AP 105-d may perform the procedure for determining agroup of un-managed APs 105 for coordinated reuse on the resources ofthe obtained TXOP.

In the case of a UL TXOP, the AP 105-d may perform the polling procedurefor the one or more un-managed APs 105 (for example, the APs 105-e or105-f). The polling procedure may include the AP 105-d transmitting aspatial reuse poll frame to the one or more un-managed APs 105. Thespatial reuse poll frame may include one or more of schedule informationfor the obtained TXOP, or UL reuse information over the TXOP. The one ormore un-managed APs 105 may receive the spatial reuse poll frame andtransmit a null packet trigger frame to the STAs 115 of a managed BSSbased on the reception. For example, at least one of the AP 105-e or theAP 105-f may receive the transmission of the spatial reuse poll framefrom the AP 105-d and may transmit a null packet trigger frame to thesupported STAs (for example, STAs 115-e or 115-f) of the managed BSSs. Anull packet trigger frame may include an indication of a resourceallocation for the one or more un-managed APs 105 of the network (forexample, as part of a common preamble encoding determined by the AP105-d). The AP 105-d may determine the common preamble encoding and mayprovide an indication of the preamble contents to the one or moreun-managed APs 105. In some examples, the null packet trigger frame mayfurther include one or more resource units (for example, a broadcastresource unit) containing a BSS coloring indication for addressingmedium contention overhead (such as, due to OBSS spatial reuse).

In response to the null packet trigger frame transmission, the managedSTAs 115 (for example, the STAs 115-e or 115-f) may perform null packettransmission to the respective serving AP 105. For example, the STA115-e may receive the null packet trigger frame from the AP 105-e andtransmit the null packet to the AP 105-e based on the reception of thetrigger frame. Similarly, the STA 115-f may receive the null packettrigger frame from the AP 105-f and may transmit the null packet to theAP 105-f. In some examples, an un-managed AP 105 may service multipleSTAs 115 as part of a BSS. The null packet may be transmitted by themultiple STAs (for example, in a HE TB PPDU format) and the un-managedAP 105 may receive the combined interference of the UL null packettransmissions.

The AP 105-d may directly measure interference associated with the nullpacket transmissions of the served STAs 115 by the set of one or moreun-managed APs 105, including the APs 105-e and 105-f. The AP 105-d maymeasure the interference to determine whether UL signaling associatedwith the STAs 115-e and 115-f may be supported for participation incoordinated reuse with APs 105-e or 105-f over the TXOP. The one or morereuse criteria may correspond to a transmit power threshold foracceptable interference between the BSS associated with the AP 105-d andthe associated BSSs of the un-managed APs 105. The AP 105-d may beconfigured with an SIR to serve the STAs 115 (for example, the STA115-d) of the BSS associated with the AP 105-d, at a desired MCS. Basedon the configured SIR value, the AP 105-d may determine if the measuredinterference at the BSSs of APs 105-e or 105-f satisfies the one or morereuse criteria over the obtained TXOP.

In some examples, described features may further include one or morevariations to the one or more configured reuse criteria for the AP 105-dfor sub-channels of the TXOP. Different reuse criteria may be supportedfor different sub-channels of the TXOP and may be based on the disparatesub-channels having different transmit powers. Additionally oralternatively, disparate sub-channels of the TXOP may target differentreceivers with different tolerance levels. In some examples, the AP105-d may determine one or more reuse criteria based on the mostconstrained sub-band across the different sub-bands of the TXOP. Inother cases, the AP 105-d may determine multiple reuse criteria for theassociated sub-bands.

Based on the measurement and determination for the one or moreun-managed APs 105, the AP 105-d may then select an AP from the one ormore un-managed APs 105 for synchronous UL transmission during the TXOP.For example, the AP 105-d may determine that the measured UL traffic ofthe BSS served by the AP 105-e exceeds the maximum transmit power foracceptable interference. The AP 105-d may then not select the AP 105-efor coordinated reuse. Alternatively, the AP 105-d may determine thatthe measured transmission interference of at least the STA 115-f, whichis serviced over the BSS associated with the AP 105-f, satisfies (fallsbelow) the calculated maximum transmit power for acceptableinterference. The AP 105-d may then select the AP 105-f for synchronousUL transmission in the TXOP.

Based on the selection, the AP 105-d may provide an indication to theone or more un-managed APs 105 of the selection (for example, the AP105-f) for synchronous UL transmission over the TXOP. In some examples,the indication may be provided as a spatial reuse trigger frame directedto the one or more un-managed APs 105 that were selected. Following theindication, the AP 105-d and the one or more un-managed APs 105 thatwere selected may transmit synchronous UL transmissions on the UL slotsof the TXOP as part of coordinated reuse.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a call flow 800 that supports featuresfor improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks. The features of call flow800 correspond to operations performed by the un-managed APs 105-d,105-e, and 105-f, as described with reference to FIG. 7. Each of theun-managed APs 105-d, 105-e, and 105-f may be independent and may servethe STAs 115 associated with the respective BSSs, as further describedwith reference to FIG. 7. The call flow 800, as described, may be anexample of a sequential polling procedure for determining participationin coordinated reuse over a TXOP. Such a polling procedure may includethe transmission of spatial reuse poll frames to individual APs and mayinclude the reception of spatial reuse response frame.

The APs 105-d, 105-e, and 105-f may countdown selected timer values of acontention window range for access contention to a resource medium ofthe network. The AP 105-d may win the contention, and identify andobtain a TXOP for UL data transmission over the wireless medium. Basedon the identifying, the AP 105-d may perform the sequential pollingprocedure for the one or more un-managed APs 105 that supportcoordinated reuse on the wireless medium (for example, APs 105-e or105-f). In some examples, the AP 105-d may transmit a first spatialreuse poll frame 805-a that may be directed to the un-managed AP 105-e.The spatial reuse poll frame 805-a may include the schedule informationfor the obtained TXOP including UL slot sizes and durations as well asUL reuse information. The UL reuse information may include the BSSIDs ofthe un-managed APs 105 capable of coordinated reuse and an indication ofa maximum allowed interference.

The AP 105-e may receive the spatial reuse poll frame 805-a and transmita null packet trigger frame 810-a to the STAs 115 (for example, the STA115-e) of the BSS supported by the AP 105-e. In some examples, the nullpacket trigger frame 810-a may include an indication of a resourceallocation for the null packet exchange by the STAs serviced by the AP105-e (for example, within a common preamble encoding of the null packettrigger frame 810-a that may be determined by the AP 105-d formultiple-AP coordinated reuse). In some examples, null packet triggerframe 810-a may further include one or more resource units (for example,a broadcast resource unit) containing a BSS coloring indication for thesupported BSS of the AP 105-e (for example, to address medium contentionoverhead due to OBSS spatial reuse).

In response to the transmission of the null packet trigger frame 810-a,the managed STAs 115 of the AP 105-e, including STA 115-e, may performUL null packet transmission 815-a to the AP 105-e. In the case ofmultiple supported STAs over the BSS associated with the AP 105-e, thenull packet transmission may be carried as part of a HE TB PPDU format.The AP 105-d may directly measure interference associated with nullpacket transmission 815-a. The AP 105-d may then determine, based on themeasurement, whether the interference associated with UL transmission onthe BSS of the AP 105-e satisfies the one or more configured criteria ofthe AP 105-d for coordinated reuse. That is, the AP 105-d may determinewhether the measured interference of UL data traffic on the BSS of theAP 105-e satisfies a configured transmit power threshold for acceptableinterference between the BSS associated with the AP 105-d and the BSSassociated with the AP 105-e. In some examples, the AP 105-d maydetermine the measured interference of null packet transmission 815-aexceeds the one or more configured reuse criteria for participating incoordinated reuse over the TXOP. As a result, the AP 105-d may notselect the AP 105-e for coordinated reuse and proceed with the pollingprocedure, including the transmission of the spatial reuse polling frameto the next un-managed the AP 105-f.

As described, the AP 105-d may transmit the spatial reuse poll frame805-b to the AP 105-f. The spatial reuse poll frame 805-b may includeone or more of schedule information or UL reuse information values ofspatial reuse poll frame 805-a. The un-managed AP 105-f may receive thespatial reuse poll frame 805-a, and in response, may transmit a nullpacket trigger frame 810-b to the STAs 115 (for example, STA 115-f) ofthe BSS supported by the AP 105-f. In some examples, the null packettrigger frame 810-b may include the indication of a resource allocationfor the null packet exchange by the STAs serviced by the AP 105-f. Insome examples, null packet trigger frame 810-a may further include oneor more resource units (for example, a broadcast resource unit)containing a BSS coloring indication for the supported BSS of the AP105-f.

In response to the transmission of the null packet trigger frame 810-b,the managed STAs 115 of the AP 105-f, including the STA 115-f, maytransmit the UL null packet transmission 815-b to the AP 105-f. In thecase of multiple supported STAs 115 over the BSS associated with the AP105-f, the null packet transmission 815-b may be carried as part of a HETB PPDU format. The AP 105-d may directly measure the interferenceassociated with the null packet transmission 815-b. The AP 105-d maythen determine, based on the measurement, whether the interferenceassociated with UL transmission on the BSS of the AP 105-f satisfies theone or more configured reuse criteria of the AP 105-d for coordinatedreuse. In some examples, the AP 105-d may determine the measuredinterference of the null packet transmission 815-b satisfies the one ormore configured reuse criteria for participating in coordinated reuseover the TXOP. The AP 105-d may then select the AP 105-f forsynchronized UL transmission over the obtained TXOP.

AP 105-d and one or more selected un-managed APs 105, including at leastthe AP 105-f, may transmit DL signaling 820 (for example, 820-a, 820-b)over the TXOP based on satisfaction of the criteria for coordinatedreuse. By performing the spatial reuse of resources during the TXOP andpromoting synchronous UL transmission by un-managed APs 105, the AP105-d may reduce interference between BSSs of the network and mayimprove the total data throughput associated with the UL transmission tothe served STAs 115. Additionally, in some examples, the AP 105-d mayobtain a longer TXOP or increased access priority for the resources ofthe wireless medium based on the number of un-managed APs of the OBSSsselected for coordinated reuse.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a call flow 900 that supports featuresfor improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks. The features of call flow900 correspond to operations performed by the un-managed APs 105-d,105-e, and 105-f, as described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Each ofthe un-managed APs 105-d, 105-e, and 105-f may be independent and mayserve the associated STAs 115 of a respective BSS, as further describedwith reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The call flow 900, as described, may bean example of a polling procedure for multiple AP for determiningparticipation for coordinated reuse over a TXOP. In such pollingprocedures, the AP 105-d may allocate resources (for example, sub-bands)of a spatial reuse poll frame for multiple un-managed APs 105 of thenetwork.

The APs 105-d, 105-e, and 105-f may countdown selected timer values of acontention window range for access contention to a resource medium ofthe network. The AP 105-d may win the contention, and may identify andobtain a TXOP for DL data transmission over the wireless medium. Basedon the identifying, the AP 105-d may perform the polling procedure formultiple AP for the one or more un-managed APs 105 that supportcoordinated reuse on the wireless medium (for example, APs 105-e or105-f). The AP 105-d may transmit a spatial reuse poll frame 905directed to the un-managed APs 105, as part of the polling procedure.The spatial reuse poll frame 905 may include the schedule informationfor the obtained TXOP, including the UL slot sizes and the durations, aswell as the UL reuse information. The UL reuse information may includethe BSSIDs of the un-managed APs 105 capable of coordinated reuse and anindication of a maximum allowed interference. In some examples, the AP105-d may allocate a portion of the resource bandwidth spectrum of thewireless medium for each of the one or more un-managed APs 105. Forexample, the medium of the contention may span an 80 MHz operatingbandwidth. The AP 105-d may allocate a first 40 MHz sub-band allocationof the wireless medium to the un-managed AP 105-e for the null packetexchange (such as, the null packet trigger transmission and the nullpacket data reception). The AP 105-d may then allocate a second 40 MHzsub-band allocation of the medium to the un-managed AP 105-f for thenull packet exchange. The AP 105-d may provide an indication of theresource allocation as part of the spatial reuse poll frame 905.

The one or more un-managed APs 105, including APs 105-e and 105-f mayreceive spatial reuse poll frame 905 and transmit a null packet triggerframe 910 to managed STAs 115, as part of a HE MU PPDU in response tospatial reuse poll frame 905. For example, the AP 105-e may receive thespatial reuse poll frame 905 and may transmit a null packet triggerframe 910-a to the STAs 115 (for example, STA 115-e) of the supportedBSS. Similarly, the AP 105-f may receive spatial reuse poll frame 905and may transmit a null packet trigger frame 910-b to the STAs 115 (forexample, STA 115-f) of the supported BSS. Each of the null packettrigger frames 910-a and 910-b may include an indication for thesupported STAs 115 of the APs 105-e and 105-f to provide resourceallocation for UL transmission within the provided sub-band allocationsfor the APs 105-e and 105-f. For example, the AP 105-e may receive a 40MHz sub-band allocation of the operating bandwidth of the wirelessmedium for performing the null packet exchange with the managed STAs 115of a supported BSS. The AP 105-e may indicate, within the commonpreamble of a null packet trigger frame 910-a, a resource allocationwithin the 40 MHz sub-band allocation for at least the STA 115-e. Insome examples, the STA 115-e may be the only STA managed by the AP 105-eand may occupy the 40 MHz of the sub-band allocation. In other cases,the AP 105-e may manage multiple STAs 115, including the STA 115-e, andmay provide a resource allocation (for example, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, etc.)for each managed STA 115 within the sub-band allocation. The AP 105-fmay perform similar operations based on a resource sub-band allocationprovided by the AP 105-d and the number of STAs managed by the AP 105-fover a supported BSS.

In response to reception of the null packet trigger frames 910,associated STAs 115 of supported BSSs for at least the AP 105-e or 105-fmay perform null packet transmission 915 over the supported resourceallocations provided in null packet trigger frames 910. In the case ofmultiple supported STAs 115 over the BSS for APs 105-e or 105-f the nullpacket transmissions may be carried as part of a HE TB PPDU format. TheAP 105-d may directly measure interference associated with at least thenull packet transmissions 915-a and 915-b. Due to the sub-bandallocations provided to APs 105-e and 105-f via spatial reuse poll 905,the AP 105-d may differentiate the combined energy from the ULtransmissions associated with the supported BSS associated with the AP105-e and the supported BSS associated with the AP 105-f.

The AP 105-d may then determine, based on the measurement, whether theinterference associated with the UL transmissions of the BSS of the AP105-e and the UL transmissions of the BSS of the AP 105-f satisfies theone or more configured criteria of the AP 105-d for coordinated reuse.That is, the AP 105-d may determine whether the measured interference ofthe UL data traffic on the BSS of the AP 105-e and the BSS of the AP105-f satisfies a configured transmit power threshold for acceptableinterference by the OBSS STAs 115 of the BSS associated with the AP105-d. In some examples, the AP 105-d may determine the measuredinterference of the null packet transmission 915-a exceeds theconfigured reuse criterion or criteria for participating in coordinatedreuse over the TXOP. As a result, the AP 105-d may not select the AP105-e for coordinated reuse. In other cases, the AP 105-d may determinethe measured interference of the null packet transmission 915-bsatisfies the configured reuse criterion or criteria for participatingin coordinated reuse over the TXOP. The AP 105-d may then select the AP105-f for synchronized UL transmission over the obtained TXOP.

Based on the selection, the AP 105-d provide an indication to the one ormore un-managed APs 105 (for example, the AP 105-f) that were selectedfor synchronous UL transmission over the TXOP. In some examples, theindication may be provided as a spatial reuse trigger frame 920 directedto the one or more un-managed APs 105 that were selected. Following theindication, the AP 105-d and the one or more un-managed APs 105 thatwere selected, including at least the AP 105-f, may perform the ULsignaling 925 (for example, 925-a, 925-b) over the TXOP based on thesatisfaction of the one or more criteria for coordinated reuse. Byperforming spatial reuse of the resources during the TXOP and promotingsynchronous UL transmission by the un-managed APs 105, the AP 105-d mayreduce interference between the BSSs of the network and may improvetotal data throughput associated with the UL transmission to the servedSTAs 115. Additionally, in some examples, the AP 105-d may obtain alonger TXOP or may obtain increased access priority for resources of thewireless medium based on the number of un-managed APs of the OBSSsselected for coordinated reuse.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a null packet trigger frame structure1000 that supports features for improved spatial reuse for WLANnetworks. A null packet trigger frame 1005, as described, may be anexample of aspects of a null packet trigger frame 810 or 910, describedwith reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In some examples, the null packettrigger frame 1005 may be a multi-BSS PPDU which appears as a DL MU PPDUto the associated STAs of the BSSs. The null packet trigger frame 1005may be implemented by one or more of the APs 105, described withreference to FIGS. 1-9.

The null packet trigger frame 1005 may contain a common preamble 1010that spans the bandwidth of the null packet trigger frame 1005. Thecontents of the common preamble 1010 may be determined by an AP ownerfollowing winning the contention for a wireless medium and obtaining aTXOP. The common preamble 1010 may include one or more index values foridentifying the allocated resource units 1015 for the STAs associatedwith a BSS of the network. In some examples, the common preamble 1010may include the allocation information for performing the determinationfor coordinated reuse. For example, the common preamble 1010 may includethe indication of one or more sub-band allocations for the un-managedAPs of the network, as part of an HE MU PPDU.

The null packet trigger frame 1005 may further contain one or moreresource units (for example, the broadcast resource units) 1015 encodedwith a number (referred to as a color) for indicated inter-BSSdetection. A bit within a SIG-A field of the null packet trigger frame1005 (for example, via one or more reserved bits in the SIG-A field) mayindicate an identification (for example, STA_ID field) in the SIG-Bfield that indicates a BSS color. In some examples, the broadcastresource unit 1015-a may be encoded with a first color for indicating afirst BSS of the WLAN network. Additionally, the broadcast resource unit1015-b may be encoded with a second color for indicating a second BSS.As described, one or more additional resource units 1015 may be encoded,including the broadcast resource unit 1015-c to a third color forindicating a third BSS and broadcast resource unit 1015-d to a fourthcolor for indicating a fourth BSS. Each of the one or more BSSsassociated with the resource units 1015 of the null packet trigger frame1005 may correspond to the OBSSs of the WLAN network. The formatting ofthe null packet trigger frame 1005 may aid in addressing the mediumcontention overhead due to the OBSS and may improve spatial reuse acrossnetwork resources without significant reduction to a selected MCS due tointerference.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects ofan AP as described herein. The device 1105 may include a receiver 1110,a communications manager 1115, and a transmitter 1120. Thecommunications manager 1115 can be implemented, at least in part, by oneor both of a modem and a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (for example, via one or more buses).

The receiver 1110 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related toimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1110 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1420 described with reference toFIG. 14. The receiver 1110 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

The communications manager 1115 may transmit, after winning contentionfor a wireless medium, a first poll to a STA served by the first accesspoint, receive, from the STA, a first response to the first poll basedon transmitting the first poll, receive, from a second access point of aset of access points, a second response including a measured signalstrength indication of the first response based on transmitting thefirst poll, and select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response.

The communications manager 1115 may also transmit, after winningcontention to a wireless medium, a first poll to a second access pointof a set of access points, measure a signal strength indication sent byone or more STAs served by the second access point based on transmittingthe first poll, and select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication.

The communications manager 1115 may also measure a signal strengthindication of a first response sent by a STA to a second access pointserving the STA, in which the first response is based on a first polltransmitted by the second access point, identify an indication to reportthe measuring of the signal strength indication of the first responsesent by the STA based on the measuring, and transmit a second responseto the second access point based on identifying the indication to reportthe measuring of the signal strength indication of the first response.

The communications manager 1115 may also receive, from a second accesspoint of a set of access points, a first poll, transmit, to one or moreSTAs served by the first access point, a second poll based on receivingthe first poll, and receive an indication from the second access pointto participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmittingthe second poll. The communications manager 1115 may be an example ofaspects of the communications manager 1410 described herein.

The communications manager 1115, or its sub-components, may beimplemented in hardware, code (for example, software or firmware)executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented incode executed by a processor, the functions of the communicationsmanager 1115, or its sub-components may be executed by a general-purposeprocessor, a DSP, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aFPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described in the present disclosure. Theactions performed by the communications manager 1115 as described hereinmay be implemented to realize one or more potential advantages. Oneexample may allow an AP 105 to save energy consumption by efficientlycoordinating with other APs 105 to operate in a reduced interferenceenvironment. Additionally or alternatively, the AP 105 may furthersynchronize UL/DL transmissions and increase reuse opportunities whichmay provide improved quality and reliability of service.

The transmitter 1120 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device. In some examples, the transmitter 1120 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1110 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1120 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1420described with reference to FIG. 14. The transmitter 1120 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of a device 1205 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example of aspects ofa device 1105 or an AP 105 as described herein. The device 1205 mayinclude a receiver 1210, a communications manager 1215, and atransmitter 1250. The communications manager 1215 can be implemented, atleast in part, by one or both of a modem and a processor. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with one another (for example, viaone or more buses).

The receiver 1210 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (forexample, control channels, data channels, and information related toimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1210 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1420 described with reference toFIG. 14. The receiver 1210 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

The communications manager 1215 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1115 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 1215 may include a control indication component 1220, a pollingcomponent 1225, a selection component 1230, a measurement component1235, a STA management component 1240, and a monitoring component 1245.The communications manager 1215 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1410 described herein.

The control indication component 1220 may transmit, after winningcontention for a wireless medium, a first poll to a STA served by thefirst access point and receive, from the STA, a first response to thefirst poll based on transmitting the first poll.

The polling component 1225 may receive, from a second access point of aset of access points, a second response including a measured signalstrength indication of the first response based on transmitting thefirst poll. The polling component 1225 may transmit, after winningcontention to a wireless medium, a first poll to a second access pointof a set of access points. The polling component 1225 may transmit asecond response to the second access point based on identifying theindication to report the measuring of the signal strength indication ofthe first response. The polling component 1225 may receive, from asecond access point of a set of access points, a first poll andtransmit, to one or more STAs served by the first access point, a secondpoll based on receiving the first poll.

The selection component 1230 may select the second access point forcoordinated reuse based on receiving the second response. The selectioncomponent 1230 may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication.

The measurement component 1235 may measure a signal strength indicationsent by one or more STAs served by the second access point based ontransmitting the first poll. The measurement component 1235 may measurea signal strength indication of a first response sent by a STA to asecond access point serving the STA, in which the first response isbased on a first poll transmitted by the second access point.

The monitoring component 1245 may identify an indication to report themeasuring of the signal strength indication of the first response sentby the STA based on the measuring. The monitoring component 1245 mayreceive an indication from the second access point to participate incoordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmitting the second poll.

The transmitter 1250 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device. In some examples, the transmitter 1250 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1210 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1250 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1420described with reference to FIG. 14. The transmitter 1250 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a communications manager 1305 thatsupports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1305 maybe an example of aspects of a communications manager 1115, acommunications manager 1215, or a communications manager 1410 describedherein. The communications manager 1305 may include a control indicationcomponent 1310, a polling component 1315, a selecting component 1320, asynchronization component 1325, a criteria component 1330, a STAmanagement component 1335, a measuring component 1340, an allocationcomponent 1345, and a monitoring component 1350. Each of these modulesmay communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (such as viaone or more buses).

The control indication component 1310 may transmit, after winningcontention for a wireless medium, a first poll containing a firstmessage to a STA served by the first access point. In some examples, thecontrol indication component 1310 may receive, from the STA, a firstresponse to the first poll based on transmitting the first poll. In someexamples, transmitting the first poll further includes transmitting thefirst poll to the set of access points. In some examples, the controlindication component 1310 may receive, from the set of access points, aresponse to the first poll, in which the response is received afterreceiving the first response to the first poll by the STA.

In some examples, the control indication component 1310 may receive,from one or more access points of the set of access points, a responseto the first poll, in which the response is based on an indicationwithin the first response to provide reuse-feedback by one or moreaccess points of the set of access points. In some examples, theindication is at least part of a preamble of the first response.

The polling component 1315 may receive, from a second access point of aset of access points, a second response including a measured signalstrength indication of the first response based on transmitting thefirst poll.

In some examples, the polling component 1315 may transmit, after winningcontention to a wireless medium, a first poll to a second access pointof a set of access points. In some examples, the polling component 1315may transmit a second response to the second access point based onidentifying the indication to report the measuring of the signalstrength indication of the first response. In some examples, the pollingcomponent 1315 may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a first poll. In some examples, the polling component1315 may transmit, to one or more STAs served by the first access point,a second poll based on receiving the first poll. In some examples, thepolling component 1315 may transmit, to the second access point, asecond poll after receiving the first response from the STA, in whichreceiving the second response is based on transmitting the second poll.

In some examples, the polling component 1315 may transmit the secondpoll and receiving the second response is part of a polling procedurefor the set of access points initiated by the first access point. Insome examples, the polling component 1315 may transmit the second pollto one or more access points of the set of access points different thanthe second access point. In some examples, the polling component 1315may determine, based on determining the criterion, that the one or moreaccess points do not satisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse overthe TXOP, in which transmitting the second poll to the second accesspoint is based on determining that the one or more access points do notsatisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some examples, transmitting the second poll to the second accesspoint includes transmitting the second poll to a set of access points ofthe set of access points. In some examples, the polling component 1315may receive, from a third access point of the set of access points, aresponse based on transmitting the second poll.

In some examples, the polling component 1315 may transmit, to a thirdaccess point of the set of access points, the second poll receiving thefirst response from the STA. In some examples, the polling component1315 may receive, from the third access point, a response based ontransmitting the second poll to the third access point. In someexamples, the polling component 1315 may transmit the first poll andmeasuring the signal strength indication is part of a polling procedurefor the set of access points initiated by the first access point.

In some examples, the polling component 1315 may transmit the first pollto one or more access points of the set of access points. In someexamples, the polling component 1315 may transmit, to a third accesspoint of the set of access points, the first poll. In some examples, thepolling component 1315 may receive, from the second access point, asecond poll that is transmitted after the first poll to the STA servedby the first access point. In some examples, the polling component 1315may receive the second poll is based on one or more access points of theset of access points not satisfying a criterion for coordinated reuseover a TXOP.

In some examples, the polling component 1315 may determine one or moremeasurement values including one or more of an RSSI measurement of thefirst response by the STA served by the first access point, a minimum DLtransmit power to service one or more additional STAs by the secondaccess point, BSR information, or BQR information, in which transmittingthe SR response frame of the second response is based on determining theone or more measurement values.

In some examples, transmitting the second poll includes transmitting anull packet trigger frame to the one or more STAs served by the firstaccess point. In some examples, transmitting the null packet triggerframe includes transmitting the null packet trigger frame in a highefficiency (HE) multi-user (MU) PPDU. In some examples, the second pollincludes a spatial reuse (SR) poll frame. In some examples, the SR pollframe includes a trigger frame. In some examples, the SR poll frameincludes one or more of schedule information for a TXOP or DL reuseinformation. In some examples, the schedule information includes DL slotsizes and durations for one or more DL slots of the TXOP. In someexamples, the DL reuse information includes one or more of a maximumallowed interference for the first access point or BSSIDs of the set ofaccess points.

In some examples, the second response includes an SR response frame. Insome examples, the SR response frame of the second response includes oneor more of an RSSI measurement of the first response by the STA servedby the first access point, a minimum DL transmit power to service one ormore additional STAs by the second access point, BSR information, or BQRinformation. In some examples, the SR response frame of the secondresponse is included in a high efficiency (HE) TB PPDU.

In some examples, the first poll includes an SR poll frame. In someexamples, the SR poll frame includes one or more of schedule informationfor a TXOP or UL reuse information. In some examples, the scheduleinformation includes UL slot sizes and durations for one or more ULslots of the TXOP. In some examples, the UL reuse information includesone or more of a maximum allowed interference for the first access pointor BSSIDs of the set of access points.

In some examples, the SR poll frame of the first poll includes a triggerframe. In some examples, the second poll includes an SR poll frame. Insome examples, the first poll includes a MU-RTS frame. In some examples,the first response includes a CTS frame. In some examples, the firstpoll includes an enhanced CTS (e-CTS) frame. In some examples, the e-CTSframe of the first poll includes a HE preamble and one or more HE-SIGfields including an indication for identifying the set of access points.

In some examples, the second response includes an SR response frame. Insome examples, the first poll includes an SR poll frame. In someexamples, the null packet trigger frame includes one or more broadcastresource units (RUs) containing a BSS color mapping that is based on abit indication in a field of the null packet trigger frame.

The selecting component 1320 may select the second access point forcoordinated reuse based on receiving the second response. In someexamples, the selecting component 1320 may select the second accesspoint for coordinated reuse based on measuring the signal strengthindication. In some examples, the selecting component 1320 may selectthe third access point for coordinated reuse based on the receiving theresponse from the third access point. In some examples, the selectingcomponent 1320 may select the third access point for coordinated reusebased on the measuring. In some examples, the selecting component 1320may select the third access point for coordinated reuse based onmeasuring the signal strength indication.

The measuring component 1340 may measure a signal strength indicationsent by one or more STAs served by the second access point based ontransmitting the first poll. In some examples, the measuring component1340 may measure a signal strength indication of a first response sentby a STA to a second access point serving the STA, in which the firstresponse is based on a first poll transmitted by the second accesspoint. In some examples, the measuring component 1340 may measure asignal strength indication sent by one or more STAs served by the thirdaccess point based on the transmitting. In some examples, the measuringcomponent 1340 may measure a signal strength indication sent by one ormore STAs served by a third access point of the set of access points.

The monitoring component 1350 may identify an indication to report themeasuring of the signal strength indication of the first response sentby the STA based on the measuring. In some examples, the monitoringcomponent 1350 may receive an indication from the second access point toparticipate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmitting thesecond poll. In some examples, the monitoring component 1350 may receivean indication from the second access point to participate in coordinatedreuse over a TXOP based on transmitting the second response. In someexamples, receiving the first poll includes receiving an indication of aresource allocation within the first poll for a set of access points ofthe set of access points, in which transmitting the second poll is basedon the indication of the resource allocation.

The synchronization component 1325 may perform synchronous DL signalingover a TXOP based on selecting the second access point. In someexamples, performing synchronous DL signaling over the TXOP includestransmitting an indication for the second access point of the set ofaccess points to perform the synchronous DL signaling. In some examples,the synchronization component 1325 may perform synchronous DL signalingover a TXOP with the second access point and the third access pointbased on selecting the second access point for coordinated reuse andselecting the third access point for coordinated reuse. In someexamples, performing synchronous DL signaling over the TXOP includesmultiplexing DL signaling of the second access point and DL signaling ofthe third access point over the TXOP, and in which the multiplexingincludes one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequencydivision multiplexing (FDM) on slots or sub-bands of the TXOP.

In some examples, the synchronization component 1325 may performsynchronous UL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point basedon selecting the second access point. In some examples, performingsynchronous UL signaling over the TXOP includes transmitting anindication for the second access point of the set of access points toparticipate in the synchronous UL signaling.

In some examples, the synchronization component 1325 may performsynchronous UL signaling over a TXOP with the second access point andthe third access point based on selecting the second access point andthe third access point for coordinated reuse. In some examples,performing synchronous UL signaling over the TXOP includes allocating afirst sub-band of the TXOP for UL signaling associated for the secondaccess point and a second sub-band of the TXOP for UL signalingassociated for the third access point.

In some examples, the synchronization component 1325 may performsynchronous DL signaling over the TXOP with the second access pointbased on receiving the indication from the second access point toparticipate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some examples, the synchronization component 1325 may performsynchronous UL signaling over the TXOP with the second access pointbased on receiving the indication from the second access point toparticipate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP. In some examples, theindication includes an SR start frame and an indication of maximumallowed transmission power for performing DL signaling over the TXOP. Insome examples, the indication includes an SR start frame and anindication of maximum allowed transmission power for performing ULsignaling over the TXOP.

The criteria component 1330 may determine a criterion for coordinatedreuse over a TXOP with the second access point based on one or more ofthe second poll or the second response, in which selecting the secondaccess point is based on determining the criterion. In some examples,the criteria component 1330 may determine that the second access pointsatisfies the criterion for coordinated reuse, in which selecting thesecond access point is based on determining that the second access pointsatisfies the criterion.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may identify a quantity ofthe set of access points. In some examples, the criteria component 1330may determine a calculation for a back-off adjustment to the criterionbased on identifying the quantity, in which determining the criterion isbased on the determining the calculation.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may determine a firstcriterion for coordinated reuse associated with a first sub-channel ofthe wireless medium based on at least one of a transmit powerrequirement of the first sub-channel or a tolerance level associatedwith the first sub-channel.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may determine a secondcriterion for coordinated reuse associated with a second sub-channel ofthe wireless medium based on at least one of a transmit powerrequirement of the second sub-channel or a tolerance level associatedwith the second sub-channel, in which determining the criterion is basedon determining the first criterion for the first sub-channel and thesecond criterion for the second sub-channel.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may determine a criterionfor coordinated reuse over a TXOP with the second access point based atleast in part the measuring, in which selecting the second access pointis based on determining the criterion.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may determine that thesecond access point satisfies the criterion for coordinated reuse, inwhich selecting the second access point is based on determining that thesecond access point satisfies the criterion.

In some examples, the criteria component 1330 may determine, based ondetermining the criterion, that the one or more access points do notsatisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP, in whichtransmitting the first poll to the second access point is based ondetermining that the one or more access points do not satisfy thecriterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP.

In some examples, the criterion for coordinated reuse includes a maximumallowed transmit power for the set of access points and is based on anSIR of the first access point to serve the STA at a modulation andcoding scheme (MCS). The STA management component 1335 may perform arequest-to-send RTS CTS procedure with the STA served by the firstaccess point, in which the first poll is a MU-RTS frame. In someexamples, the MU-RTS frame of the first poll includes one or more ofinformation for the STA served by the first access point or informationon one or more BSSIDs of the set of access points. In some examples, thefirst response includes a CTS frame.

The allocation component 1345 may allocate resources of the first pollfor a set of access points of the set of access points. In someexamples, the allocation component 1345 may transmit the first poll tothe set of access points based on allocating the resources of the SRpoll frame.

In some examples, the allocation component 1345 may determine contentsof a preamble for a second poll by one or more access points of the setof access points based on the transmitting, in which measuring thesignal strength indication is based on the contents of the preamble. Insome examples, the second poll includes a null packet trigger frame. Insome examples, the null packet trigger frame includes one or morebroadcast resource units (RUs) containing a BSS color mapping, in whichthe BSS color mapping of the one or more broadcast RUs is based on a bitindication in a field of the null packet trigger frame.

FIG. 14 shows a diagram of a system 1400 including a device 1405 thatsupports improved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 1405 may be an example ofor include the components of device 1105, device 1205, or an AP asdescribed herein. The device 1405 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a communicationsmanager 1410, a network communications manager 1415, a transceiver 1420,an antenna 1425, memory 1430, a processor 1440, and an inter-stationcommunications manager 1445. These components may be in electroniccommunication via one or more buses (for example, bus 1450).

The communications manager 1410 may transmit, after winning contentionfor a wireless medium, a first poll to a STA served by the first accesspoint, receive, from the STA, a first response to the first poll basedon transmitting the first poll, receive, from a second access point of aset of access points, a second response including a measured signalstrength indication of the first response based on transmitting thefirst poll, and select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response. The communications manager 1410may also transmit, after winning contention to a wireless medium, afirst poll to a second access point of a set of access points, measure asignal strength indication sent by one or more STAs served by the secondaccess point based on transmitting the first poll, and select the secondaccess point for coordinated reuse based on measuring the signalstrength indication. The communications manager 1410 may also measure asignal strength indication of a first response sent by a STA to a secondaccess point serving the STA, in which the first response is based on afirst poll transmitted by the second access point, identify anindication to report the measuring of the signal strength indication ofthe first response sent by the STA based on the measuring, and transmita second response to the second access point based on identifying theindication to report the measuring of the signal strength indication ofthe first response. The communications manager 1410 may also receive,from a second access point of a set of access points, a first poll,transmit, to one or more STAs served by the first access point, a secondpoll based on receiving the first poll, and receive an indication fromthe second access point to participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOPbased on transmitting the second poll.

The network communications manager 1415 may manage communications withthe core network (for example, via one or more wired backhaul links).For example, the network communications manager 1415 may manage thetransfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or moreSTAs 115.

The transceiver 1420 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1420 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1420 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some examples, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1425.However, in some examples, the device may have more than one antenna1425, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receivingmultiple wireless transmissions.

The memory 1430 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 1430 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable code 14 35 including instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functionsdescribed herein. In some examples, the memory 1430 may contain, amongother things, a basic input/basic output system (BIOS) which may controlbasic hardware or software operation such as the interaction withperipheral components or devices.

The processor 1440 may include an intelligent hardware device, (forexample, a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller,an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate ortransistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or anycombination thereof). In some examples, the processor 1440 may beconfigured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In othercases, a memory controller may be integrated into processor 1440. Theprocessor 1440 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory to perform various functions (forexample, functions or tasks supporting improved spatial reuse for WLANnetworks).

The inter-station communications manager 1445 may manage communicationswith other APs 105, and may include a controller or scheduler forcontrolling communications with STAs 115 in cooperation with other APs105. For example, the inter-station communications manager 1445 maycoordinate scheduling for transmissions to STAs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager1445 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication network technology to provide communication between APs105.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1500 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1500 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 1505, the AP may transmit, after winning contention for a wirelessmedium, a first poll including a first message to a STA served by thefirst access point. The operations of 1505 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1505 may be performed by a control indication component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1510, the AP may receive, from the STA, a first response to the firstpoll based on transmitting the first poll. The operations of 1510 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed by a controlindication component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1515, the AP may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a second response including a measured signal strengthindication of the first response based on transmitting the first poll.The operations of 1515 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1520, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response. The operations of 1520 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1520 may be performed by a selectingcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1600 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1600 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605, the AP may transmit, after winning contention for a wirelessmedium, a first poll including a first message to a STA served by thefirst access point. The operations of 1605 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1605 may be performed by a control indication component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1610, the AP may receive, from the STA, a first response to the firstpoll based on transmitting the first poll. The operations of 1610 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed by a controlindication component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1615, the AP may transmit, to the second access point, a second pollafter receiving the first response from the STA, in which receiving thesecond response is based on transmitting the second poll. The operationsof 1615 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Insome examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed by apolling component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1620, the AP may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a second response including a measured signal strengthindication of the first response based on transmitting the first poll.The operations of 1620 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1620may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1625, the AP may determine a criterion for coordinated reuse over aTXOP with the second access point based on one or more of the secondpoll or the second response, in which selecting the second access pointis based on determining the criterion. The operations of 1625 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1625 may be performed by a criteriacomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1630, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response. The operations of 1630 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1630 may be performed by a selectingcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1700 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1700 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 1705, the AP may transmit, after winning contention for a wirelessmedium, a first poll including a first message to a STA served by thefirst access point. The operations of 1705 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1705 may be performed by a control indication component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1710, the AP may receive, from the STA, a first response to the firstpoll based on transmitting the first poll. The operations of 1710 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by a controlindication component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1715, the AP may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a second response including a measured signal strengthindication of the first response based on transmitting the first poll.The operations of 1715 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1720, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on receiving the second response. The operations of 1720 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1720 may be performed by a selectingcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1725, the AP may perform synchronous DL signaling over a TXOP basedon selecting the second access point. The operations of 1725 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1725 may be performed by a synchronizationcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1800 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 1805, the AP may transmit, after winning contention to a wirelessmedium, a first poll to a second access point of a set of access points.The operations of 1805 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1805may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1810, the AP may measure a signal strength indication sent by one ormore STAs served by the second access point based on transmitting thefirst poll. The operations of 1810 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1810 may be performed by a measuring component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1815, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication. The operations of1815 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed by aselecting component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1900 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 1905, the AP may transmit, after winning contention to a wirelessmedium, a first poll to a second access point of a set of access points.The operations of 1905 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1905may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1910, the AP may measure a signal strength indication sent by one ormore STAs served by the second access point based on transmitting thefirst poll. The operations of 1910 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1910 may be performed by a measuring component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1915, the AP may determine a criterion for coordinated reuse over aTXOP with the second access point based at least in part the measuring,in which selecting the second access point is based on determining thecriterion. The operations of 1915 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of1915 may be performed by a criteria component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 1920, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication. The operations of1920 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1920 may be performed by aselecting component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2000 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 2005, the AP may transmit, after winning contention to a wirelessmedium, a first poll to a second access point of a set of access points.The operations of 2005 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2005may be performed by a polling component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2010, the AP may measure a signal strength indication sent by one ormore STAs served by the second access point based on transmitting thefirst poll. The operations of 2010 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of2010 may be performed by a measuring component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2015, the AP may select the second access point for coordinated reusebased on measuring the signal strength indication. The operations of2015 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2015 may be performed by aselecting component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2020, the AP may perform synchronous UL signaling over a TXOP withthe second access point based on selecting the second access point. Theoperations of 2020 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2020 may beperformed by a synchronization component as described with reference toFIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 21 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2200 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2200 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 2105, the AP may measure a signal strength indication of a firstresponse sent by a STA to a second access point serving the STA, inwhich the first response is based on a first poll transmitted by thesecond access point. The operations of 2105 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2105 may be performed by a measuring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2110, the AP may identify an indication to report the measuring ofthe signal strength indication of the first response sent by the STAbased on the measuring. The operations of 2110 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2110 may be performed by a monitoring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2115, the AP may transmit a second response to the second accesspoint based on identifying the indication to report the measuring of thesignal strength indication of the first response. The operations of 2115may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2115 may be performed by apolling component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2200 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2200 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 2205, the AP may measure a signal strength indication of a firstresponse sent by a STA to a second access point serving the STA, inwhich the first response is based on a first poll transmitted by thesecond access point. The operations of 2205 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2205 may be performed by a measuring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2210, the AP may identify an indication to report the measuring ofthe signal strength indication of the first response sent by the STAbased on the measuring. The operations of 2210 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2210 may be performed by a monitoring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2215, the AP may transmit a second response to the second accesspoint based on identifying the indication to report the measuring of thesignal strength indication of the first response. The operations of 2215may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2215 may be performed by apolling component as described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2220, the AP may receive an indication from the second access pointto participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmittingthe second response. The operations of 2220 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2220 may be performed by a monitoring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2225, the AP may perform synchronous DL signaling over the TXOP withthe second access point based on receiving the indication from thesecond access point to participate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.The operations of 2225 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2225may be performed by a synchronization component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 23 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2400 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2400 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2400 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 2305, the AP may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a first poll. The operations of 2305 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2305 may be performed by a polling component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2310, the AP may transmit, to one or more STAs served by the firstaccess point, a second poll based on receiving the first poll. Theoperations of 2310 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2310 may beperformed by a polling component as described with reference to FIGS. 11through 14.

At 2315, the AP may receive an indication from the second access pointto participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmittingthe second poll. The operations of 2315 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2315 may be performed by a monitoring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

FIG. 24 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2400 that supportsimproved spatial reuse for WLAN networks in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2400 may be implementedby an AP or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2400 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14. In some examples, anAP may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the AP to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, an AP may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At 2405, the AP may receive, from a second access point of a set ofaccess points, a first poll. The operations of 2405 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 2405 may be performed by a polling component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2410, the AP may transmit, to one or more STAs served by the firstaccess point, a second poll based on receiving the first poll. Theoperations of 2410 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2410 may beperformed by a polling component as described with reference to FIGS. 11through 14.

At 2415, the AP may receive an indication from the second access pointto participate in coordinated reuse over a TXOP based on transmittingthe second poll. The operations of 2415 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2415 may be performed by a monitoring component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

At 2420, the AP may perform synchronous UL signaling over the TXOP withthe second access point based on receiving the indication from thesecond access point to participate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.The operations of 2420 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2420may be performed by a synchronization component as described withreference to FIGS. 11 through 14.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000,Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000,IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases may be commonly referredto as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to asCDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system mayimplement a radio technology such as GSM.

An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part ofUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-APro are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE,LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, and GSM are described in documents from theorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques describedherein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentionedherein as well as other systems and radio technologies. While aspects ofan LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes ofexample, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used inmuch of the description, the techniques described herein are applicablebeyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR applications.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (forexample, several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted accessby STAs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. Asmall cell may be associated with a lower-powered AP 105, as comparedwith a macro cell, and a small cell may operate in the same or different(for example, licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macrocells. Small cells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cellsaccording to various examples. A pico cell, for example, may cover asmall geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by STAs 115 withservice subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may alsocover a small geographic area (for example, a home) and may providerestricted access by STAs 115 having an association with the femto cell(for example, STAs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), STAs 115 forusers in the home, and the like). An eNB for a macro cell may bereferred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred toas a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB maysupport one or multiple (for example, two, three, four, and the like)cells, and may also support communications using one or multiplecomponent carriers.

The WLAN 100 or systems described herein may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the APs 105 may havesimilar frame timing, and transmissions from different APs 105 may beapproximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the APs 105may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different APs105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may beused for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices(for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiplemicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at different locations, including beingdistributed such that portions of functions are implemented at differentphysical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother non-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code means in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer,or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least oneof” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, forexample, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB orAC or BC or ABC (such as, A and B and C). Also, as used herein, thephrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed setof conditions. For example, an exemplary step that is described as“based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and acondition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construedin the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the describedexamples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinaryskill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications tothe disclosure will be readily apparent to a person having ordinaryskill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples anddesigns described herein, but is to be accorded the broadest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication at a firstaccess point, comprising: transmitting, after winning contention for awireless medium, a first poll comprising a first message to a station(STA) served by the first access point, the first message comprising anindication for the STA to transmit a first response to a set of accesspoints, the first poll further comprising a request for a measuredsignal strength indication of the first response transmitted by the STA;receiving, from the STA, the first response to the first poll based atleast in part on transmitting the first poll; transmitting, to a secondaccess point, a second poll after receiving the first response from theSTA; receiving, from the second access point of the set of accesspoints, a second response comprising the measured signal strengthindication of the first response based at least in part on transmittingthe first poll, wherein receiving the second response is based at leastin part on transmitting the second poll; and selecting the second accesspoint for coordinated reuse based at least in part on receiving thesecond response.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performingsynchronous DL signaling over a transmission opportunity (TXOP) based atleast in part on selecting the second access point.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein performing the synchronous DL signaling over the TXOPcomprises transmitting an indication for the second access point of theset of access points to perform the synchronous DL signaling.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the measured signal strength indicationcomprises a spatial reuse start frame and an indication of maximumallowed transmission power for performing DL signaling over the TXOP. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a criterion forcoordinated reuse over a transmission opportunity (TXOP) with the secondaccess point based at least in part on one or more of the second poll orthe second response, wherein selecting the second access point is basedat least in part on determining the criterion.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising determining that the second access point satisfiesthe criterion for coordinated reuse, wherein selecting the second accesspoint is based at least in part on determining that the second accesspoint satisfies the criterion.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein thecriterion for coordinated reuse comprises a maximum allowed transmitpower for the set of access points and is based at least in part on asignal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of the first access point to servethe STA at a modulation and coding scheme (MCS).
 8. The method of claim5, further comprising: identifying a quantity of the set of accesspoints; and determining a calculation for a back-off adjustment to thecriterion based at least in part on identifying the quantity, whereindetermining the criterion is based at least in part on the determiningthe calculation.
 9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:determining a first criterion for coordinated reuse associated with afirst sub-channel of the wireless medium based at least in part on atleast one of a transmit power requirement of the first sub-channel or atolerance level associated with the first sub-channel; and determining asecond criterion for coordinated reuse associated with a secondsub-channel of the wireless medium based at least in part on at leastone of a transmit power requirement of the second sub-channel or atolerance level associated with the second sub-channel, whereindetermining the criterion is based at least in part on determining thefirst criterion for the first sub-channel and the second criterion forthe second sub-channel.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein transmittingthe second poll and receiving the second response is part of a pollingprocedure for the set of access points initiated by the first accesspoint.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the second pollto the second access point further comprises: transmitting the secondpoll to one or more access points of the set of access points differentthan the second access point, the method further comprising; receiving,from the one or more access points, a response based at least in part onthe transmitting; and determining a criterion for coordinated reuse overa TXOP with the one or more access points based at least in part onreceiving the response from the one or more access points.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising determining, based at least inpart on determining the criterion, that the one or more access points donot satisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP, whereintransmitting the second poll to the second access point is based atleast in part on determining that the one or more access points do notsatisfy the criterion for coordinated reuse over the TXOP.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein transmitting the second poll to the secondaccess point comprises transmitting the second poll to a plurality ofaccess points of the set of access points, the method furthercomprising: receiving, from a third access point of the set of accesspoints, a response based at least in part on transmitting the secondpoll; and selecting the third access point for coordinated reuse basedat least in part on the receiving the response from the third accesspoint.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the second poll comprises aspatial reuse (SR) poll frame that comprises a trigger frame.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the SR poll frame comprises one or more ofschedule information for a TXOP or DL reuse information.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein the schedule information comprises DL slot sizesand durations for one or more DL slots of the TXOP.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the DL reuse information comprises one or more of amaximum allowed interference for the first access point or basic serviceset (BSS) identifiers (BSSIDs) of the set of access points.
 18. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to a third accesspoint of the set of access points, the second poll after receiving thefirst response from the STA; receiving, from the third access point, aresponse based at least in part on transmitting the second poll to thethird access point; and selecting the third access point for coordinatedreuse based at least in part on the receiving the response from thethird access point.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprisingperforming synchronous DL signaling over a TXOP with the second accesspoint and the third access point based at least in part on selecting thesecond access point for coordinated reuse and selecting the third accesspoint for coordinated reuse, wherein performing the synchronous DLsignaling over the TXOP comprises multiplexing DL signaling of thesecond access point and DL signaling of the third access point over theTXOP, and wherein the multiplexing comprises one or more of timedivision multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) onslots or sub-bands of the TXOP.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein thesecond response comprises an SR response frame.
 21. The method of claim20, wherein the SR response frame of the second response comprises oneor more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurement ofthe first response by the STA served by the first access point, a DLtransmit power that satisfies a threshold to service one or moreadditional STAs by the second access point, buffer status report (BSR)information, or bandwidth query report (BQR) information.
 22. The methodof claim 20, wherein the SR response frame of the second response isincluded in a high efficiency (HE) trigger-based (TB) physical layerprotocol data unit (PPDU).
 23. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving, from one or more of the set of access points, a response tothe first poll, wherein the response is based at least in part on anindication within the first response to provide reuse-feedback by one ormore of the set of access points, wherein the indication is at leastpart of a preamble of the first response.
 24. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing a request-to-send (RTS) clear-to-send(CTS) procedure with the STA served by the first access point, whereinthe first poll comprises an enhanced or modified RTS frame.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the first poll comprises a multi-user (MU)RTS (MU-RTS) frame.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the MU-RTS frameof the first poll comprises one or more of information for the STAserved by the first access point or information on one or more BSSIDs ofthe set of access points.
 27. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming a request-to-send (RTS) clear-to-send (CTS) procedure withthe STA served by the first access point, wherein the first pollcomprises an enhanced CTS (e-CTS) frame.
 28. The method of claim 27,wherein the e-CTS frame of the first poll comprises an HE preamble andone or more HE-SIG fields that include an indication for identifying oneor more access points of the set of access points for providing an RSSImeasurement of the e-CTS frame of the first poll.
 29. A method forwireless communication at a first access point, comprising:transmitting, after winning contention for a wireless medium, a firstpoll comprising a first message to a station (STA) served by the firstaccess point, the first message comprising an indication for the STA totransmit a first response to a set of access points, the first pollfurther comprising a request for a measured signal strength indicationof the first response transmitted by the STA; transmitting a secondmessage to the set of access points; receiving, from the STA, the firstresponse to the first poll based at least in part on transmitting thefirst poll; receiving, from the set of access points, a response to thefirst poll, wherein the response is received after receiving the firstresponse to the first poll by the STA; receiving, from a second accesspoint of the set of access points, a second response comprising themeasured signal strength indication of the first response based at leastin part on transmitting the first poll; and selecting the second accesspoint for coordinated reuse based at least in part on receiving thesecond response.
 30. The method of claim 29, further comprisingperforming synchronous DL signaling over a transmission opportunity(TXOP) based at least in part on selecting the second access point. 31.The method of claim 30, wherein performing the synchronous DL signalingover the TXOP comprises transmitting an indication for the second accesspoint of the set of access points to perform the synchronous DLsignaling.
 32. The method of claim 30, wherein the measured signalstrength indication comprises a spatial reuse start frame and anindication of maximum allowed transmission power for performing DLsignaling over the TXOP.
 33. The method of claim 29, wherein the secondresponse comprises an SR response frame.
 34. The method of claim 33,wherein the SR response frame of the second response comprises one ormore of a received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurement of thefirst response by the STA served by the first access point, a DLtransmit power that satisfies a threshold to service one or moreadditional STAs by the second access point, buffer status report (BSR)information, or bandwidth query report (BQR) information.
 35. The methodof claim 33, wherein the SR response frame of the second response isincluded in a high efficiency (HE) trigger-based (TB) physical layerprotocol data unit (PPDU).
 36. The method of claim 29, wherein theresponse is based at least in part on an indication within the firstresponse to provide reuse-feedback by the set of access points, whereinthe indication is at least part of a preamble of the first response. 37.The method of claim 29, further comprising performing a request-to-send(RTS) clear-to-send (CTS) procedure with the STA served by the firstaccess point, wherein the first poll comprises an enhanced or modifiedRTS frame.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the first poll comprisesa multi-user (MU) RTS (MU-RTS) frame.
 39. The method of claim 38,wherein the MU-RTS frame of the first poll comprises one or more ofinformation for the STA served by the first access point or informationon one or more BSSIDs of the set of access points.
 40. The method ofclaim 29, further comprising performing a request-to-send (RTS)clear-to-send (CTS) procedure with the STA served by the first accesspoint, wherein the first poll comprises an enhanced CTS (e-CTS) frame.41. The method of claim 40, wherein the e-CTS frame of the first pollcomprises an HE preamble and one or more HE-SIG fields that include anindication for identifying one or more access points of the set ofaccess points for providing an RSSI measurement of the e-CTS frame ofthe first poll.
 42. A method for wireless communication at a firstaccess point, comprising: determining a signal strength indication of afirst response sent by a STA in response to a first poll transmitted bya second access point serving the STA; receiving, from the second accesspoint, a second poll that is transmitted after the first response sentby the STA served by the first access point based at least in part onone or more access points of a set of access points not satisfying acriterion for coordinated reuse over a TXOP; identifying an indicationto report the measuring of the signal strength indication of the firstresponse sent by the STA based at least in part on the measuring; andtransmitting a second response to the second access point based at leastin part on identifying the indication to report the measuring of thesignal strength indication of the first response.
 43. The method ofclaim 42, further comprising receiving an indication from the secondaccess point to participate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP based atleast in part on transmitting the second response; and performingsynchronous DL signaling over the TXOP with the second access pointbased at least in part on receiving the indication from the secondaccess point to participate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.
 44. Themethod of claim 42, wherein the second response comprises an SR responseframe, the method further comprising determining one or more measurementvalues comprising one or more of an RSSI measurement of the firstresponse by the STA served by the first access point, a DL transmitpower that satisfies a threshold to service one or more additional STAsby the second access point, BSR information, or BQR information, whereintransmitting the SR response frame of the second response is based atleast in part on determining the one or more measurement values.
 45. Amethod for wireless communication at a first access point, comprising:receiving, from a second access point of a set of access points, a firstpoll comprising an indication of a resource allocation within the firstpoll for a plurality of access points of the set of access points;transmitting, to one or more STAs served by the first access point, asecond poll based at least in part on the resource allocation; andreceiving an indication from the second access point to participate incoordinated reuse over a TXOP based at least in part on transmitting thesecond poll.
 46. The method of claim 45, further comprising performingsynchronous UL signaling over the TXOP with the second access pointbased at least in part on receiving the indication from the secondaccess point to participate in coordinated reuse over the TXOP.
 47. Themethod of claim 45, wherein transmitting the second poll comprisestransmitting a null packet trigger frame to the one or more STAs servedby the first access point.